GREGORIAN

Gregorian

(adjective) of or relating to Pope Gregory XIII or the calendar he introduced in 1582

Gregorian

(adjective) of or relating to Pope Gregory I or to the plainsong chants of the Roman Catholic Church

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Gre*go"ri*an, a. Etym: [NL. Gregorianus, fr. Gregorius Gregory, Gr. grégorien.]

Definition: Pertaining to, or originated by, some person named Gregory, especially one of the popes of that name. Gregorian calendar, the calendar as reformed by Pope Gregory XIII. in 1582, including the method of adjusting the leap years so as to harmonize the civil year with the solar, and also the regulation of the time of Easter and the movable feasts by means of epochs. See Gregorian year (below).

– Gregorian chant (Mus.), plain song, or canto fermo, a kind of unisonous music, according to the eight celebrated church modes, as arranged and prescribed by Pope Gregory I. (called "the Great") in the 6th century.

– Gregorian modes, the musical scales ordained by Pope Gregory the Great, and named after the ancient Greek scales, as Dorian, Lydian, etc.

– Gregorian telescope (Opt.), a form of reflecting telescope, named from Prof. James Gregory, of Edinburgh, who perfected it in 1663. A small concave mirror in the axis of this telescope, having its focus coincident with that of the large reflector, transmits the light received from the latter back through a hole in its center to the eyepiece placed behind it.

– Gregorian year, the year as now reckoned according to the Gregorian calendar. Thus, every year, of the current reckoning, which is divisible by 4, except those divisible by 100 aud not by 400, has 366 days; all other years have 365 days. See Bissextile, and Note under Style, n., 7.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

19 May 2025

CHEMICAL

(adjective) of or made from or using substances produced by or used in reactions involving atomic or molecular changes; “chemical fertilizer”


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Coffee Trivia

The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.

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