ἐμβολισμός, in Chronology, signifies "intercalation." The word is formed of ἐμβάλλω, "to insert."

As the Greeks made use of the lunar year, which is only 354 days; in order to bring it to the solar, which is 365 days, they had every two or three years an embolism, i.e. they added a 13th lunar month every two or three years, which additional month they called embolimæus, ἐμβολικός, because intertied, or intercalated.