epagomena

Etymology

From the neuter plural of Ancient Greek ἐπαγόμενος (epagómenos, “added on”), used by Greek writers of antiquity to describe the five epagomenal days of the calendar of the Egyptians.

Why this word is great

EPAGOMENA — [Noun] A period of time (typically five days) added to a calendar year outside of any regular month to complete the solar year, as in the ancient Egyptian or French Republican calendars. From the neuter plural of Ancient Greek ἐπαγόμενος (epagómenos, "added on"), used by Greek writers to describe the five intercalary days in the Egyptian calendar. Unlike "intercalation" (which refers broadly to any insertion of extra time into a calendar) or "leap day" (which denotes a single day added periodically), "epagomena" is a fixed, annual block of days—time set adrift from the moorings of months. It is the five days of the Egyptian year when the gods walked the earth, the liminal stretch of the French Revolutionary calendar when the year’s excess spilled over, or the quiet, unclaimed hours at the edge of a planner where nothing quite fits. A reminder that even time, that most rigid of constructs, must sometimes bend to the cosmos.

noun

Time (usually five days) appended to a calendar year, outside of any regular month, to make the year 365 days long (in e.g. the ancient Egyptian calendar and in the French Republican calendar).“[The Ancient Egyptian calendar had] 12 months each 30 days long followed by five epagomenal days.”