Gregorian

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Gregorian \Gre*go"ri*an\, a. [NL. Gregorianus, fr. Gregorius
     Gregory, Gr. ?: cf. F. gr['e]gorien.]
     Pertaining to, or originated by, some person named Gregory,
     especially one of the popes of that name.
     [1913 Webster]
  


     {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 and not by 400, has 366 days; all other years have
        365 days. See {Bissextile}, and Note under {Style}, n., 7.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Gregorian
       adj 1: of or relating to Pope Gregory I or to the plainsong chants
              of the Roman Catholic Church
       2: of or relating to Pope Gregory XIII or the calendar he
          introduced in 1582