Gregorian calendar

noun

: a calendar in general use introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a revision of the Julian calendar, adopted in Great Britain and the American colonies in 1752, marked by the suppression of 10 days or after 1700 11 days, and having leap years in every year divisible by four with the restriction that centesimal years are leap years only when divisible by 400 see Months of the Principal Calendars Table

Examples of Gregorian calendar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Based on the phases of the moon cycle, the lunar calendar has 354 days, so Ramadan begins 10 or 11 days earlier each year on the longer Gregorian calendar. Sarah Dadouch, Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2024 Leap Days themselves, meanwhile, have actually been tacked onto every fourth February ever since the Gregorian calendar was reformed in 1582. Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 29 Feb. 2024 According to the Gregorian calendar, these particular years will not be considered leap years, hence the need for adjustment. Bhanu Chopra, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 That’s because most countries observe a Gregorian calendar, which follows the sun — not the moon — similar to the Roman Julian calendar which was implemented in 46 B.C. to clear up some of the confusion. Angela Rodriguez, Sacramento Bee, 29 Feb. 2024 Welcome to Leap Day, that odd quadrennial occurrence that lets the Gregorian calendar catch up with the Earth’s orbit. Chris Morris, Fortune, 29 Feb. 2024 To fix this, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar, which kept a leap day every four years but eliminated it during centurial years not divisible by 400, according to the History Channel. Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 29 Feb. 2024 Deep dive This Thursday is a leap day — an extra day that's added to the Gregorian calendar every four years (except for years divisible by 100, but not 400). Suzanne Nuyen, NPR, 27 Feb. 2024 When the Julian calendar was later refined into the Gregorian calendar in 1582, the tradition of adding a leap day to February persisted. Detroit Free Press, 26 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Gregorian calendar.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1771, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Gregorian calendar was circa 1771

Dictionary Entries Near Gregorian calendar

Cite this Entry

“Gregorian calendar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Gregorian%20calendar. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

Gregorian calendar

noun
Gre·​go·​ri·​an calendar
gri-ˌgōr-ē-ən-,
-ˌgȯr-
: a calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 and adopted in Great Britain and the American colonies in 1752 compare julian calendar

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