Definition of intercalary in English:
intercalary
adjective ˌɪntəˈkal(ə)riɪnˈtəːkəl(ə)ri
1(of a day or a month) inserted in the calendar to harmonize it with the solar year, e.g. 29 February in leap years.
eighteen months of twenty days each and five intercalary days
Example sentencesExamples
- In the old calendar, an intercalary month of 22 or 23 days called Mercedonius was inserted after the Festival of Terminalia in every other year or as needed.
- He added two extra intercalary months apart from the one regular intercalary month to the year 46 BC.
- In ancient Egypt, for civil purposes, a solar calendar of 365 days to the year was used in which there were 12 months of 30 days and 5 intercalary days.
- The intercalary month by which the Arabs adjusted the lunar months to the solar year is abolished, severing the connection between the religious rituals and the seasons.
- Chinese mythology holds that disasters always strike in intercalary Augusts and Cheng was aware of the power of this superstition when he wrote his book.
- 1.1 Of the nature of an insertion.
elaborate intercalary notes
2(of an academic year or period) additional to the standard course and taken at a different institution.
the intercalary year is taken between the second and final years
3Botany
(of the meristem of a plant) located between its daughter cells, especially (in a grass) at or near the base of a leaf.
Example sentencesExamples
- Leaves are formed from an intercalary meristem which is positioned within the leaf sheaths of subtending leaves.
- In these stems and leaves with intercalary meristems, the upward transpiration stream clearly bypassed most of the enlarging cells.
- However, the intercalary meristem is considerably longer when considering the leaf extension zone.
- Cell division occurs mainly at the intercalary meristem at the base of the internode, but also throughout the internode at early stages of internode development.
- The second intercalary meristem gives rise to the internode.
Origin
Early 17th century: from Latin intercalarius, from intercalare (see intercalate).