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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

intercalate.

To insert an extra leap day into a calendar in order to maintain synchrony with natural phenomena.

11 characters4 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ɪnˈtɜː.kəl.eɪt/Received-Pronunciation/ˌɪn.tə.kəˈleɪt/Received-Pronunciation/ɪnˈtɝ.kəˌleɪt/General-American
  1. To insert an extra leap day into a calendar in order to maintain synchrony with natural phenomena.

  2. To insert an extra month into a calendar for the same purpose, such as for the Hebrew calendar.

  3. To insert a substance between two or more molecules, bases, cells, or tissues.

  4. To insert anything somewhere (especially between other things), such as an affix into a word. (Compare interpolate.)

Where this word comes from

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”).

noun/ɪnˈtɜː.kəl.eɪt/Received-Pronunciation/ˌɪn.tə.kəˈleɪt/Received-Pronunciation/ɪnˈtɝ.kəˌleɪt/General-American
  1. An atom or molecule, or a substance, that enters between the layers of the crystal lattice of another substance, especially that of graphite.

    attributive · often
  2. A compound formed by foreign atoms or molecules entering between the layers of a crystal lattice, especially that of graphite.

Where this word comes from

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”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.