# Why is it called "leap year"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 29, 2008, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-leap-year/439627 "2008-02-29T11:30:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-leap-year/439627/1 "2008-02-29T11:30:14Z")
It seems to me that it is the OTHER years which leap directly from Feb 28 to March 1. So why is THIS year called the “leap” year? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-leap-year/439627/2 "2008-02-29T11:35:54Z")
I understood it to be because it caused subsequent fixed-day festivals and calendar events to ‘leap’ forward by one day within the week. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-leap-year/439627/3 "2008-02-29T11:41:37Z")
Makes sense! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-leap-year/439627/4 "2008-02-29T11:44:51Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I understood it to be because it caused subsequent fixed-day festivals and calendar events to ‘leap’ forward by one day within the week. [/QUOTE] I’ll second that. If there were 364 day in a year the year (364/7 = 52.0) then every annual holiday would fall on the same day of the week. There are normally 365 days which causes an annual holiday to move by one weekday. A rather nice progression that gives every weekday a chance to feel special. 😉 Go to 366 days and a weekday gets skipped, or leaped that year. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-leap-year/439627/5 "2008-02-29T12:12:23Z")
While it doesn’t answer the specific question as to why the name, it WAS a great, concise report by [C K Dexter Haven](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mleapyr.html) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-leap-year/439627/6 "2008-02-29T13:39:47Z")
According to the “Word a Day” Calendar on my desk, a “leap year” in the Julian or Gregorian calendar is called a “bissextile year”, although the name ought to be only applied to the Julian calendar. Apparently the Romans added the extra day after Feb. 24th, not at the end of the month, and called the day \*bissextus", meaning “second sixth day” (Feb. 24th is the _sixth_ day before the start of March, and the extra day is the “second sixth” day) ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-leap-year/439627/7 "2008-02-29T14:02:46Z")
Nevermind. Too easy.