Leap Year in French – année bissextile

(2025 is not a leap year)

DICTIONARY DEFINITION
“Une année bissextile doit avoir son millésime divisible par 4. Mais si le millésime est divisible par 100, il doit aussi l’être par 400 : 2000 était bissextile ; 1700, 1800 et 1900 ne l’ont pas été” (millésime – year. Often translated as vintage when referring to wine)

Basically…….most years that are divisible by four, such as 2020 and 2024, are leap years.

It was Julius Caesar who originally introduced the Leap Day, in order to bring the various religious calendars back into alignment.

As we already know from Roman numerals, numbering in sequence, as we know it today, was not a Roman habit.

After the Julian reforms, the Romans inserted another day between February 23 and 24, and called it “Bis VI Kal. Mart.” (Second sixth day before the First of March obviously.)

When the days of the month were numbered in sequence in the Middle Ages, the day was moved to the last day of February, but the term bissextile remained.

Bis in French describes something that happens twice.

eg  J’Habite à 5 bis, rue de Perpignan. – I live at 5 A

un itinéraire bis – detour, diversion

So there we are,  older, but not much wiser! 🙂