intercalate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to interpolate; interpose.
-
to insert (an extra day, month, etc.) in the calendar.
verb
-
to insert (one or more days) into the calendar
-
to interpolate or insert
Other Word Forms
- intercalation noun
- intercalative adjective
- unintercalated adjective
Etymology
Origin of intercalate
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin intercalātus, past participle of intercalāre “to insert a day or month into the calendar,” equivalent to inter- “between, among, together” + calā- (stem of calāre “to proclaim”) + -tus past participle suffix; inter-
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“The messenger RNA from the vaccine does not form a triple helix, and it certainly doesn’t intercalate with the DNA to form a triple helix in any way,” Kuritzkes said.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 7, 2022
To prevent this it was customary at regular intervals to intercalate days or months.
From History of Astronomy by Forbes, George
The era began on the 11th of July 552, and their year is vague, that is to say, it does not intercalate a day in February every fourth year, like the Julian calendar.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 5 "Arculf" to "Armour, Philip" by Various
To rectify this discrepancy we must intercalate 10 minutes by stopping the clock until it is 6 by the regulator.
From Our Calendar by Packer, George Nichols
Or yet again she'd intercalate a touch, An episode or version.
From Toward the Gulf by Masters, Edgar Lee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.