noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈliːp ˌjɪə/
General-American:/ˈlip ˌjɪ(ə)ɹ/
General-American:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A year in the Julian or Gregorian calendar with an intercalary day added to February (in the Gregorian calendar, February 29), used to adjust for the extra hours of the solar year; a 366-day year.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: bissext, bissextile, bissextile year, intercalary year
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Any other year featuring intercalation, such as a year in a lunisolar calendar with 13 months instead of 12, used to maintain its alignment with the seasons of the solar year.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
in the Gregorian calendar: any year divisible by 4 except centenary years divisible by 400
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: intercalary year, 366 days, bissextile year
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: year, twelvemonth, yr
History
Etymology
PIE word *yóh1r̥ From Late Middle English lepe-yer, lep-yer (“year with 366 days, leap year”), from lep, lepe (“act of jumping, jump, leap”) (from Old English hlīep, hlȳp, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *klewp- (“to spring; to stumble”)) + yer (“calendrical unit based on a complete revolution of the Earth around the Sun, year”) (from Old English ġēar, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *yóh1r̥ (“year”)). The English term is analysable as leap (noun) + year, and possibly relates to the phenomenon that any fixed date of a 365-day calendar advances one weekday each year but every date of a 366-day year after February 29 (often seen as the leap day) advances by two weekdays instead. For example, Christmas (December 25) fell on a Saturday in 2004, a Sunday in 2005, a Monday in 2006, and a Tuesday in 2007 but then “leapt” over Wednesday to fall on a Thursday in 2008 which was a leap year. Compare also Old English mōnan hlȳp (“moon’s leap”) and Medieval Latin saltus lūnae (literally “leap moon”), an additional day added every 19 years (a Metonic cycle) to bring the lunar and solar calendars into alignment. Cognates * Old Norse hlaup-ár (“leap year”)
Across languages
Translations
84 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
skrikkeljaar
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Southern Altai:
кату јыл
(katu ǰïl)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Arabic:
سَنَة كَبِيسَة
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Azerbaijani:
uzun il
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Breton:
bloavezh bizeost
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Bulgarian:
високосна година
(visokosna godina)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Burmese:
ရက်ထပ်နှစ်
(rakhtaphnac)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Catalan:
any bixest
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Catalan:
any bissextil
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Catalan:
any de traspàs
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Chinese Mandarin:
閏年 /闰年
(rùnnián)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Cornish:
bledhen lamm
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Czech:
přestupný rok
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Danish:
skudår
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Dutch:
schrikkeljaar
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Esperanto:
superjaro
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Estonian:
liigaasta
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Faroese:
leypár
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Finnish:
karkausvuosi
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
French:
année bissextile
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Georgian:
ნაკიანი წელი
(naḳiani c̣eli)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Georgian:
ნაკიანი წელიწადი
(naḳiani c̣elic̣adi)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
German:
Schaltjahr
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Greek:
δίσεκτο έτος
(dísekto étos)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Hebrew:
שנה מעוברת
(shaná meubéret)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Hindi:
अधिवर्ष
(adhivarṣ)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Hindi:
लीप वर्ष
(līp varṣ)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Hungarian:
szökőév
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Icelandic:
hlaupár
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Ido:
bisextila yaro
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Indonesian:
tahun kabisat
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Interlingua:
anno bissextil
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Irish:
bliain bhisigh
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Italian:
anno bisestile
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Japanese:
閏年
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Khmer:
ឆ្នាំបង្គ្រប់
(chnam bɑɑbɑngkrup)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Korean:
윤년
(yunnyeon)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Lao:
ປີອະທິກະສຸລະທິນ
(pī ʼa thi ka su la thin)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Lithuanian:
keliamieji metai
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Luxembourgish:
Schaltjoer
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Macedonian:
престапна година
(prestapna godina)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Malay:
tahun lompat
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Maltese:
sena biżestili
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Māori:
tau kuhurangi
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Minangkabau:
tahun kabisat
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Mongolian:
өндөр жил
(öndör žil)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Norman:
année bissextile
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Norwegian Bokmål:
skottår
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Norwegian Bokmål:
skuddår
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Norwegian Nynorsk:
skotår
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Norwegian Nynorsk:
skottår
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Pashto:
د کبيسې کال
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Persian:
سال انباشته
(sâl-e anbâšte)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Persian:
سال کبیسه
(sâl-e kabise)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Plautdietsch:
Schaultjoa
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Polish:
rok przestępny
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Portuguese:
ano bissexto
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Romanian:
an bisect
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Romanian:
an bisectil
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Russian:
високо́сный год
(visokósnyj god)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Samoan:
puna ifo tausaga
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Scottish Gaelic:
bliadhna-leum
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Serbo-Croatian:
преступна го̏дина)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Serbo-Croatian:
prestupna gȍdina
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Serbo-Croatian:
prijestupna gȍdina
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Slovak:
priestupný rok
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Slovene:
prestopno leto
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Spanish:
año bisiesto
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Spanish:
bisiesto
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Swedish:
skottår
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Tagalog:
taong bisyesto
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Tajik:
соли кабиса
(sol-i kabisa)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Thai:
ปีอธิกมาส
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Thai:
ปีอธิกสุรทิน
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Turkish:
artık yıl
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Ukrainian:
пере́ступний рік
(peréstupnyj rik)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Ukrainian:
високо́сний рік
(vysokósnyj rik)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Urdu:
سال کبیسہ
(sāl-e kabīsā)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Vietnamese:
năm nhuận
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Vietnamese:
năm nhuần
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Waray-Waray:
tuig bisyesto
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Welsh:
blwyddyn naid
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Yiddish:
עיבור־יאָר
(iber-yor)
— year in the Julian or Gregorian calendars with an intercalary day added to February
Finnish:
karkausvuosi
— any other year featuring intercalation
