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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

• intercalarily adverb

Etymology

Origin of intercalary

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

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.

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

Hence the first three years of the Egyptian intercalary period begin on the 29th of our August, and the fourth begins on the 30th of that month.

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

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.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various