Why is the leap year called "leap" year?
 

As the title states. Why is the word "leap" year used. I know why it is used and the 400 year rule and all. I just cannot find out why it is called "leap".

because it is the year we 'leap' back to catch up with the real time as we know it. if that makes sense.

btw, what is this 400 year rule you speak of?

In the Gregorian calendar, the following rules decides which years are leap years:

1. Every year divisible by 4 is a leap year.
2. But every year divisible by 100 is NOT a leap year
3. Unless the year is also divisible by 400, then it is still a leap year.

This means that year 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300 and 2500 are NOT leap years, while year 2000 and 2400 are leap years.

Actualy I want to know who used the word "leap year" first. Was it an adaption from the Julien calander? Is there some Latin or other bassis for the word.

If a year ends in 00 like 1700 or 1900 there was no leap year. There was a leap year in 2000 because it could be evenly devided by 400. That is to take up the extra time that is still not acounted for by the addition of a leap day every 4 years.

I was googling for this answer, and found a really cool word. Too bad it'll take another four years before I can use bissextile in a sentance and not be slapped.

Because it's a lot easier than saying; "The Year That We Add A Day To The Shortest Month Of The Year, Because The Earth Actually Takes 365 And A Quarter Days To Revolve Around The Sun, So We Just Do This To Clean Up That Little Glitch.".

Yeah..."Leap Year" is so much easier. :D

It is an odd choice of a word--more reasonable choices to call it would be 365-day year, or adjustment year, or long year, or extra-day year.

anyone know what it's called in other languages?

I was married on leap day. Just had my 3rd leap-anniversary.....

Somehow it seems more like 12 years...

Yes, it was an adaptation from the Julian calendar.

The Julian calendar, for those who don't know, had a leap day every 4 years. Period. By 1582, this had slipped the calendar by 9 days. That year, September was 9 days shorter by fiat of the Pope in those countries which were Catholic.

At the same time, the beginning of the new year was moved from 25 March to 1 January. This is where the concept of April Fool's Day came from since April used to be the first full month of a new year.

England didn't adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752, by which time 2 more days had slipped in, so September 1752 was 11 days shorter in all British colonies and places which decended from same.

Other groups switched at other times, such as the Russians which did it in 1918.

Yeah I knew that, but the bassis for the actual WORD? Also in the Julien calander some places were having a leap year every 3 years. The year 46 AC was names "the year of confusion", or was it 47 ac, either way, that was the year that the switch happened.

I know how you feel, although I wasn't married on "leap" day...

/ducks a flying dish