dominical letter

American  

noun

1. any one of the letters from A to G used in church calendars to mark the Sundays throughout any particular year, serving primarily to aid in determining the date of Easter.

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dominical letter British  

noun

1. Christianity any one of the letters A to G as used to denote Sundays in a given year in order to determine the church calendar

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Etymology

Origin of dominical letter

First recorded in 1570–80

Example Sentences

Then we have for the year 2, 3 - 2 = 1; therefore A being the first letter, is dominical letter for the year 2; hence it is evident that January commenced on Sunday.

From Our Calendar by Packer, George Nichols

Had G, the seventh letter been dominical letter for the year preceding the era, then these remainders would be taken from 7; and 7 would be used until change of style in 1582.

From Our Calendar by Packer, George Nichols

Read from this to the letter which begins the given month, always reading from A toward G, calling the dominical letter Sunday, the next Monday, etc.

From Our Calendar by Packer, George Nichols

Hence in the Julian calendar the dominical letter is given by the equation L = 7m + 3 - x - x4 w.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" by Various

The letter which coincides with the first Sunday within this period is called the dominical letter, and it serves for the following year.

From The Borghesi Astronomical Clock in the Museum of History and Technology Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, Paper 35, the Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum Bulletin 240 by Bedini, Silvio A.