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intercalary

American  
[in-tur-kuh-ler-ee, in-ter-kal-uh-ree] / ɪnˈtɜr kəˌlɛr i, ˌɪn tərˈkæl ə ri /

adjective

  1. inserted or interpolated in the calendar, as an extra day or month; intercalated.

  2. having such an inserted day, month, etc., as a particular year.

  3. inserted or introduced between other things or parts; interpolated; interposed.


intercalary British  
/ ɪnˈtɜːkələrɪ /

adjective

  1. (of a day, month, etc) inserted in the calendar

  2. (of a particular year) having one or more days inserted

  3. inserted, introduced, or interpolated

  4. botany growing between the upper branches and the lower branches or bracts on a stem

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of intercalary

First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin intercalārius, equivalent to intercal(āre) “to intercalate ” + -ārius -ary

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

But all this — this gripping story about the outrages endured on a pre-Civil War Georgia farm — appears only in the intercalary chapters, or “Songs,” as Jeffers calls them.

From Washington Post Aug. 23, 2021

The reflection between Sarat’s private ordeal and the country’s vast, ongoing calamity is sustained by a series of intercalary chapters: excerpts from history books, news reports, memoirs and speeches.

From Washington Post Apr. 3, 2017

By analysing unassembled genomic data we estimated total amounts of 15.4Mb centromeric, 6.0Mb intercalary, and 0.6Mb subtelomeric satellite DNA, as well as 10.0Mb of 18S-5.8S-25S and 5S ribosomal genes.

From Nature Jan. 22, 2014

If the year has an intercalary month the labourer sometimes gets less than two cents a day.

From Village Life in China A Study in Sociology by Smith, Arthur H.

In intercalary years the first seven months commence one day later.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3 "Chitral" to "Cincinnati" by Various

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