Gregorianische

Gregorianische is the inflected form of the German adjective gregorianisch, meaning “related to Gregorian.” In German it describes things connected with the name Gregorian, which ultimately derives from the Latin Gregorius. The form gregorianische is used before feminine nouns or in the plural, as in gregorianische Gesänge.

Gregorian chant: The term gregorianische Gesänge refers to the traditional plainchant of the Western Christian liturgy. Traditionally associated with Pope Gregory I, its origins lie in the early to high Middle Ages and it was gradually developed and codified by liturgical and scholarly authorities. The chant is typically monophonic and unaccompanied, with modal pitch organization and flexible rhythm in early forms; later, a more standardized repertory emerged within medieval and older Catholic liturgy.

Gregorian calendar: The term gregorianischer Kalender denotes the calendar reform promulgated by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. It corrected drift in the Julian calendar and improved the calculation of Easter. The reform skipped ten days in October 1582, and introduced a leap-year rule: most years divisible by 4 are leap years, but century years are leap years only if divisible by 400. Today the Gregorian calendar is the internationally used civil calendar.

Other uses and etymology: The adjective appears in discussions of related cultural topics, such as gregorianische Musik signaling a stylistic reference to Gregorian chant, or in linguistic and historical contexts describing German usage. The name ultimately derives from Saint Gregory I (Gregorius) and the Latin-derived term that passed into German.