Dionysius Exiguus

American  

[eg-zig-yoo-uhs, ek-sig-] / ɛgˈzɪg yu əs, ɛkˈsɪg- /

noun

1. died a.d. 556?, Scythian monk, chronologist, and scholar: devised the current system of reckoning the Christian era.

---

Dionysius Exiguus British  

/ ɛɡˈzɪɡjʊəs /

noun

1. died ?556 _ad , Scythian monk and scholar, who is believed to have introduced the current method of reckoning dates on the basis of the Christian era

---

Example Sentences

In 525, a monk named Dionysius Exiguus wanted to pinpoint the date for Easter.

From New York Times • Nov. 28, 2019

The calendar we use today, which commences with the birth of Christ and was created by a Dionysius Exiguus, a sixth century monk, may be mistaken.

From Time • Nov. 22, 2012

When the 6th Century monk Dionysius Exiguus finally did so, he made a miscalculation of four to six years which has not yet been rectified.

From Time Magazine Archive

The world of Dionysius Exiguus, Boethius, and Bede was dark indeed.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

This was the opinion which obtained in the first ages, till Dionysius Exiguus, placing the baptism of Christ in the 16th year of Tiberius, and misinterpreting the text of Luke, iii.

From Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John by Newton, Isaac, Sir