Home › Glossary › Letter J

Julian Calendar

Time And Calendar
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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

The calendar introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BCE, using a regular leap-year cycle. It preceded the Gregorian calendar in much of Europe.

Detailed Definition
The Julian calendar organized the year around a simple four-year leap cycle and became a major framework for European civil and religious dates. Over centuries, its slight difference from the solar year accumulated, helping lead to Gregorian reform. A poem may invoke the Julian calendar to locate itself in Roman antiquity, medieval history, or an older religious tradition. Its gradual drift can also symbolize the subtle distance between official records and the seasons themselves.
Example
Example in poetry:
A historical poet may mention the Julian calendar to establish a setting in ancient Rome or medieval Europe; “Under the Julian calendar, the feast arrived early against the sun,” suggests the calendar’s gradual seasonal drift; The Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar, used a leap day every four years and shaped European dates for centuries; A poem about old records can contrast calendars: “Her birthday in the Julian calendar crossed the border and became another day”
Additional Notes
The Julian calendar used a leap day every fourth year, slightly overestimating the solar year. Its replacement by the Gregorian calendar can represent historical change, reform, or competing measures of time.
Also Known As
Old Style Julian
Skip to main content