See Also: French republican calendar(encyclopedia)
Republican(medicine)
republican(dictionary)
Republican Party(encyclopedia)
Radical Republican(encyclopedia)
republican (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
Republican River(encyclopedia)
republican 2, adjective(dictionary)
republican 1, noun(dictionary)
REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT(law)

French republican calendar (sh)




Dating system adopted in 1793 during the French Revolution.

It sought to replace the Gregorian calendar with a scientific and rational system that avoided Christian associations. The 12 months each contained three decades (instead of weeks) of 10 days each, and the year ended with five (six in leap years) supplementary days. The year began with the autumnal equinox and the day on which the National Convention had proclaimed France a republic, 1 Vendemiaire, Year I (Sept. 22, 1792). The other autumn months were named Brumaire and Frimaire; they were followed by the winter months Niv?se, Pluvi?se, and Vent?se, the spring months Germinal, Floreal, and Prairial, and the summer months Messidor, Thermidor, and Fructidor. (All the names were derived from words for natural phenomena.) On Jan. 1, 1806, the Gregorian calendar was reestablished by the Napoleonic regime.