LEAP YEAR


Meaning of LEAP YEAR in English

■ noun a year, occurring once every four years, which has 366 days including 29 February as an intercalary day.

Origin

ME: prob. from the fact that feast days after February in such a year fell two days later than in the previous year, rather than one day later as in other years, and could be said to have ‘leaped’ a day.

Concise Oxford English vocab.      Сжатый оксфордский словарь английского языка.