leap year en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (General-American) audio
- /ˈlip ˌjɪ(ə)ɹ/ (General-American)
- /ˈliːp ˌjɪə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
PIE word *yóh₁r̥ From Late Middle English lepe-yer, lep-yer (“year with 366 days, leap year”), from lep, lepe (“act of jumping, jump, leap”) (from Old English hlīep, hlȳp, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *klewp- (“to spring; to stumble”)) + yer (“calendrical unit based on a complete revolution of the Earth around the Sun, year”) (from Old English ġēar, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ (“year”)). The English term is analysable as leap (noun) + year, and possibly relates to the phenomenon that any fixed date of a 365-day calendar advances one weekday each year but every date of a 366-day year after February 29 (often seen as the leap day) advances by two weekdays instead. For example, Christmas (December 25) fell on a Saturday in 2004, a Sunday in 2005, a Monday in 2006, and a Tuesday in 2007 but then “leapt” over Wednesday to fall on a Thursday in 2008 which was a leap year. Compare also Old English mōnan hlȳp (“moon’s leap”) and Medieval Latin saltus lūnae (literally “leap moon”), an additional day added every 19 years (a Metonic cycle) to bring the lunar and solar calendars into alignment. Cognates * Old Norse hlaup-ár (“leap year”)
Meanings
-
A year in the Julian or Gregorian calendar with an intercalary day added to February (in the Gregorian calendar, February 29), used to adjust for the extra hours of the solar year; a 366-day year.
The additional day which occurred every fourth year [after the Julian Reform] was given to February, as being the shortest month, and was inserted in the calendar between the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth day. February having then twenty-nine days, the twenty-fifth was the sixth of the calends of March, sexto calendas; the preceding, which was the additional or intercalary day, was called bis-sexto calendas, hence the term bissextile, which is still employed to distinguish the year of 366 days. The English denomination of Leap-Year would have been more appropriate if that year had differed from common years in defect, and contained only 364 days. In the ecclesiastical calendar the intercalary day is still placed between the 24th and 25th of February; in the civil calendar it is the 29th.
1842, “CALENDAR”, in The Encyclopædia Britannica or Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature. […], 7th edition, volume VI, Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, →OCLC, page 5, column 2:
- (broadly) Any other year featuring intercalation, such as a year in a lunisolar calendar with 13 months instead of 12, used to maintain its alignment with the seasons of the solar year.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| leap years | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| leapyear | alternative | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Deriveds
Meronyms
leap day · bissextile month · leap second
Synonyms
bissextile year · intercalary year · bissext · bissextile
Translations (84)
gd bliadhna-leum (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · th ปีอธิกสุรทิน (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · el δίσεκτο έτος (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · nrf année bissextile (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · fa سال کبیسه (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · it anno bisestile (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · pdt Schaultjoa (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · mn өндөр жил (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · hi लीप वर्ष (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · ro an bisect (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · nn skottår (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · cy blwyddyn naid (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · eo superjaro (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · he שנה מעוברת (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · tg соли кабиса (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · es año bisiesto (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · tr artık yıl (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · sv skottår (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · sm puna ifo tausaga (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · ca any bissextil (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · mk престапна година (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · bg високосна година (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · mt sena biżestili (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · tl taong bisyesto (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · da skudår (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · az uzun il (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · uk пере́ступний рік (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · et liigaasta (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · ur سال کبیسہ (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · min tahun kabisat (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · th ปีอธิกมาส (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · nb skottår (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · vi năm nhuận (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · lb Schaltjoer (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · ka ნაკიანი წელი (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · sh prijestupna gȍdina (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · ro an bisectil (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · fo leypár (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · br bloavezh bizeost (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · io bisextila yaro (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · ar سَنَة كَبِيسَة (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · id tahun kabisat (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · fi karkausvuosi (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · fa سال انباشته (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · cs přestupný rok (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · lo ປີອະທິກະສຸລະທິນ (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · sh prestupna gȍdina (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · ka ნაკიანი წელიწადი (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · war tuig bisyesto (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · lt keliamieji metai (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · sh преступна го̏дина) (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · sl prestopno leto (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · my ရက်ထပ်နှစ် (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · nb skuddår (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · alt кату јыл (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · pl rok przestępny (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · is hlaupár (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · kw bledhen lamm (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · pt ano bissexto (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · ps د کبيسې کال (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · es bisiesto (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · ca any de traspàs (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · cmn 閏年 /闰年 (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · ca any bixest (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · uk високо́сний рік (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · ko 윤년 (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · af skrikkeljaar (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · nl schrikkeljaar (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · fi karkausvuosi (any other year featuring intercalation) · ms tahun lompat (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · ru високо́сный год (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · mi tau kuhurangi (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · ga bliain bhisigh (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · vi năm nhuần (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · hu szökőév (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · km ឆ្នាំបង្គ្រប់ (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · nn skotår (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · ia anno bissextil (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · yi עיבור־יאָר (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · fr année bissextile (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · de Schaltjahr (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · ja 閏年 (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · hi अधिवर्ष (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February) · sk priestupný rok (year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February)