Bissextus
Bissext, or bissextus (from Latin bis 'twice' and sextus 'sixth') is the 'leap day' which is added to the Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar every fourth year to compensate for the six-hour difference in length between the common 365-day year and the actual length of the solar year.[1] (The Gregorian calendar omits this leap day in years evenly divisible by 100, unless they are divisible by 400)
Originally, the day was inserted after 24 February, i.e. the 6th day before the calends (1st) of March, Consequently, besides the sextus, or sixth before the calends, the bis-sextus or "second sixth," was 25 February. In modern usage, with the exception of ecclesiastical calendars, this intercalary day is added for convenience at the end of the month of February, as 29 February, and years in which February has 29 days are called "bissextile," or leap years.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bissext". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 12.
Further reading
- "De anno bissextile". The Law.com dictionary & Black's law dictionary 2nd edition. The Law Network. Retrieved 24 November 2020. (legal definition)
- Owen Ruffhead, ed. (1769). "The Statute De Anno et Die Bissextili, Anno 1236 (21 Hen III c.12)". The Statutes at Large; from Magna Charta to the end of the Reign of King Henry the Sixth. Vol. 1. p. 20.
The day of the Leap Year, and the day before, shall be holden as one day
- Edward Coke (1628). "Cap. 1, Of Fee Simple.". First Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England. p. 8 left [30].
... and by (b) the statute de anno bissextili, it is provided, [quod computentur dies ille excrescens et dies proxime præcedens pro unico dii] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |chapter-url= (help), (so as in computation that day excrescent is not accounted.)