intercalary

[in-tur-kuh-ler-ee, in-ter-kal-uh-ree]

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

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• intercalarily adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of intercalary¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of intercalary¹

C17: from Latin intercalārius; see _intercalate

Example Sentences

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.

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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.

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Calendar buffs may call this process “intercalation” and the extra 13th month an “intercalary” month.

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Veadar, vē′a-dar, n. the name of the intercalary or thirteenth month of the Jewish year, which must have been inserted about every third year.

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It is probable that he was the author of the law which left it to the discretion of the pontiffs to insert or omit the intercalary month of the year.

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