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Bissextile

Adjective
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Pertaining to leap year; used in temporal or calendrical poetry to mark irregularity, cyclical time, or existential reflection.

Detailed Definition
Bissextile, meaning "leap year," appears in poetry as a temporal marker or metaphor for anomaly, interruption, or extra time; it may structure calendrical poems or symbolize rare opportunities, as in Renaissance sonnets reflecting on time’s irregularities.
Example
Example in poetry:
Bissextile: Though rare in poetry, bissextile (leap year) appears symbolically in W.H. Auden’s “Leap Before You Look,” where temporal irregularity mirrors existential risk and poetic form.
Additional Notes
Bissextile: Relating to a leap year (from Latin “bis sextus”—“twice sixth,” referring to the doubled February 24); rarely used in poetry but may appear in calendrical or temporal meditations—e.g., in sonnets on time’s irregularities.
Also Known As
Leap-year phenomenon intercalary reference calendar adjustment extra-day motif
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