bissextile
/bɪˈsɛks.taɪəl/adjective, noun
bissextile is spelled B-I-S-S-E-X-T-I-L-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 72 million words in written English, the 269,040th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, bissextile means “Being or having an intercalary day, particularly the quadrennial leap day of the Julian and Gregorian calendars traditionally placed as a "second…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bissextile?
| Letters | 10: B-I-S-S-E-X-T-I-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 72 million words; the 269,040th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is bissextile?
Bissextile appears about once in every 72 million words in written English, the 269,040th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bissextile?
- UK /bɪˈsɛkstɪl/
- US /bɪˈsɛks.taɪəl/
- US /bɑɪˈsɛks.tɑɪl/
Bissextile has 3 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-bissextile.wav, En-us-bissextile.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bissextile
- bissextiles plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bissextile mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Being or having an intercalary day, particularly the quadrennial leap day of the Julian and Gregorian calendars traditionally placed as a "second sixth" day before March 1st.
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 24th and 25th day. February having then twenty-nine days, the 25t
noun
- 1
Synonym of leap year: a year with an intercalary day.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bissextile in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense having an extra day:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bissextile come from?
From Latin bisextilis/bissextilis (annus) (“bissextile year”), from bisextus + -ilis, from bis- (“two; twice; doubled”) + sextus (“sixth”) + dies (“day”), from the Julian calendar's original reckoning of its quadrennial intercalary day as a 48-hour February 24, subsequently distinguished as the two separate days of the sixth day before the March calends (ante diem sextum Kalendas Martias) and the "doubled sixth day". (February 24 is now normally understood as five days before the first of March, but was called the sixth by the Romans owing to their inclusive counting of dates.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).