What does embolismic mean?
Embolismic is a specialized adjective used in chronology and calendar studies to describe periods of time deliberately inserted into a year — most often the additional thirteenth month added to the Hebrew calendar about seven times in every nineteen-year cycle. Because purely lunar calendars drift against the seasons, an embolismic month keeps festivals such as Passover anchored to spring, just as a leap day does in the Gregorian calendar. The word derives from the Greek embolimos ('inserted'), the same root that yields the medical term 'embolism,' though the two senses are unrelated in modern use. Embolismic appears almost exclusively in scholarly, religious, or astronomical writing, and readers outside those fields will rarely encounter it except in explanations of how lunisolar calendars stay aligned with the seasons.
adjectiveRelating to an embolism in the calendrical sense — an intercalary period inserted into a year or calendar to keep it aligned with the seasons; especially used of the extra (thirteenth) month added periodically in the Hebrew calendar.
- Of or relating to an intercalated period in a calendar; designating the leap months or leap years inserted to keep lunar calendars synchronized with the solar year, especially in the Hebrew calendar.
"In an embolismic year such as 5784, the Hebrew calendar contains thirteen months rather than twelve."
"The rabbis determined which years would be embolismic by following the fixed nineteen-year cycle known as the Metonic cycle."
"Because the year was embolismic, Adar was followed by a second month of Adar, pushing Purim into the added month."
The same Greek root that gives medicine its 'embolism' also names the extra month Jews add to the Hebrew calendar roughly seven times every nineteen years — that's why Passover sometimes lands nearly a month later.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of embolismic
Embolismic comes from the Greek embolimos, meaning 'inserted' or 'thrown in', derived from emballein ('to throw in'), a compound of en- ('in') and ballein ('to throw'). It passed into Latin as embolismus before entering English alongside the related noun 'embolism'. Its closest cognates include emblem, symbol, hyperbole, and parable, all of which trace back to forms of the Greek verb ballein.
Related word forms
How embolismic is actually used
A technical term confined chiefly to chronology, astronomy, and Jewish liturgical contexts; it is rare in general prose and would normally be glossed on first use for lay readers.
Easily confused with embolismic
An embolism is most commonly a medical term for an obstructing mass (such as a blood clot) travelling in the bloodstream, whereas embolismic is an adjective describing intercalary time inserted into a calendar.