intercalate
/ɪnˈtɝ.kəˌleɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.26 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To insert an extra leap day into a calendar in order to maintain synchrony with natural phenomena.
verb
To insert an extra month into a calendar for the same purpose, such as for the Hebrew calendar.
verb
To insert anything somewhere (especially between other things), such as an affix into a word. (Compare interpolate.)
noun
An atom or molecule, or a substance, that enters between the layers of the crystal lattice of another substance, especially that of graphite.
noun
A compound formed by foreign atoms or molecules entering between the layers of a crystal lattice, especially that of graphite.
Example Sentences
- "'[T]is wonderful where or when we ever got anything of this which we call wisdom, poetry, virtue. We never got it on any dated calendar day. Some heavenly days must have been intercalated somewhere."
- "At some unknown period, the five days, known to the present time by the names of the five Gathic hymns of Zarathushtra, were intercalated at the end of the twelfth month, to complete the three hundred and sixty-five days of the solar year."
- "The Sages once overheard three shepherds discussing what weather is characteristic of Adar, and if that weather does not occur, it is not really Adar. As a result, the Sages intercalated the year and added Adar II."
- "... the personal pronouns which form the terminations of the verb, or by an intercalated suffix, the nature and relation of its objects and its subject , and to distinguish whether the object be animate or inanimate, ..."
- "Sometimes f or s is intercalated to lighten the pronunciation : kommen, Kunft ; können, Kunst ; […]"
- "-erole ← -er- (< -ÅR) + -ole ( < -EOLU): maierole. A lengthened var. of -ole, this suffix appears in the late Middle Ages, formed through “false division”, namely the secondary rapprochement of, say, bannerole (banniere + -ole) or casserole with ban- or cass-. Is the -er- […] intercalated for rhythmic of differentiatory purposes? This "interfix" conveys no semantic message: It simply serves as an occasionally handy grammatical tool."
Etymology
The verb is first attested in 1614, the noun in 1964; borrowed from Latin intercalātus, perfect passive participle of intercalō (“to proclaim that a day, an event, etc. has been intercalated; to insert”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from inter- (“between, among”) + calō (“to call; to proclaim”).
Word Breakdown
- Root: *kelh₁-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɪnˈtɝ.kəˌleɪt/
- British English: /ɪnˈtɜː.kəl.eɪt/
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Chemistry.