This week’s theme
Words related to the number 29

This week’s words
aderation
saturnalian
bissextile
lunation
occiput

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(by-SEKS-til/tyl)

MEANING:

adjective: Relating to the leap year or the extra day in a leap year.
noun: Leap year.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin bisextilis annus (leap year), from Latin bissextus (Feb 29: leap day), from bi- (two) + sextus (sixth), from the fact that the sixth day before the Calends of March (Feb 24) appeared twice every leap year. Earliest documented use: 1398.

USAGE:

“You do know that 2012 will be a bissextile year, don’t you?”
Jack Dillard; Chocolate Milk for You, Water for Your Tree; The Times (Shreveport, Louisiana); Dec 11, 2011.

See more usage examples of bissextile in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: