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A.Word.A.Day--bissextile

Pronunciation Sound Clip RealAudio

This week's theme: words related to calendar.

bissextile (by-SEKS-til) adjective

Of or pertaining to the leap year or the extra day in the leap year.

noun

Leap year.

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

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus.

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

"It's finally bissextile day. Calm down, this story has nothing to do with gender preferences. For the 200,000 of you Americans out there born on Feb. 29, the long wait is over. Have a happy birthday." Tony Germanotta; The Virginian-Pilot; Let's Leap for Joy; Feb 29, 2004.

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The vast majority of human beings dislike and even dread all notions with which they are not familiar. Hence it comes about that at their first appearance innovators have always been derided as fools and madmen. -Aldous Huxley, novelist (1894-1963)

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