biennial

play

adjective bi·en·ni·al \ (ˌ)bī-ˈe-nē-əl \

Definition of biennial

1 :occurring every two years

a biennial celebration

2 :continuing or lasting for two years; specifically, of a plant :growing vegetatively during the first year and fruiting and dying during the second

Biennial herbs flower in their second year.

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biennial

noun

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biennially

play \-ə-lē\ adverb

See biennial defined for English-language learners

See biennial defined for kids

What do bimonthly and biweekly mean?

Many people are puzzled about bimonthly and biweekly, which are often ambiguous because they are formed from two different senses of bi-: "occurring every two" and "occurring two times." This ambiguity has been in existence for nearly a century and a half and cannot be eliminated by the dictionary. The chief difficulty is that many users of these words assume that others know exactly what they mean, and they do not bother to make their context clear. So if you need bimonthly or biweekly, you should leave some clues in your context to the sense of bi- you mean. And if you need the meaning "twice a," you can substitute semi- for bi-. Biannual and biennial are usually differentiated.

Examples of biennial in a Sentence

The governor explained the biennial budget proposal.

Recent Examples of biennial from the Web

The biennial fest will be in six performance spaces at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

— phil marty, chicagotribune.com, "Midwest and more: Highland Games in Iowa, a Taliesin dinner and a massive apple pie," 28 Aug. 2017
In 2015 in Germany, the Americans rallied from 8 1/2 points down to beat Europe 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 — the largest rally in the history of the biennial event that began in 1990.

— luke meredith, The Seattle Times, "Solheim Cup opens Friday in Iowa," 18 Aug. 2017
The plan, the DNR notes, presents an ambitious agenda of work that will test its energies and resources over the next five biennial budgeting and planning cycles.

— paul a. smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Smith: DNR sets 10-year Lake Michigan fisheries plan amid stormy seas," 9 Aug. 2017
Charity football matches are often held to great success, with the biennial Soccer Aid event raising over £20m for UNICEF since it was first held in 2006.

— SI.com, "QPR to Host Charity Match for Grenfell Community Featuring Celebrities & Former Players," 28 July 2017
Nelson’s plan also calls for a $750 million biennial package to pay for permanent raises for classroom teachers, which would begin in the 2019-20 school year.

— diane smith, star-telegram, "How much are your teachers worth? State’s proposed $1,000 bonus is about $2 a day," 21 July 2017
Disney parks and resorts division chairman Bob Chapek made the announcement Saturday at the company’s D23 Expo, a biennial event for fans held at the Anaheim Convention Center, near the company’s Disneyland and California Adventure parks.

— christopher palmeri, Bloomberg.com, "Disney Teases `Star Wars' Hotel in Park Investment Flurry," 16 July 2017
A brand new trailer for director Ava DuVernay’s dazzling adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved 1963 novel premiered on Saturday during the live-action film panel at D23, Disney’s biennial fan expo in Anaheim, California.

— marc snetiker, PEOPLE.com, "WATCH: Reese Witherspoon, Oprah, and Mindy Kaling Dazzle in First Trailer for A Wrinkle in Time," 15 July 2017
This seminar, which took place at Holland & Knight's office in Miami, previewed the biennial WATEC (Water Technology and Environmental Control) Israel 2017 taking place in Tel Aviv this September.

— sergio carmona, Jewish Journal, "Seminar explores how Israel's water technology can help Florida," 13 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'biennial.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Biennial conventions, celebrations, competitions, and sports events come every two years. Biennials are plants that live two years, bearing flowers and fruit only in the second year. (Carrots and sugar beets are two examples; since we're only interested in their roots, we don't wait another year to see their flower and fruit.) In contrast, semiannual means "twice a year". But no one can agree whether biweekly means "twice a week" or "every two weeks", and whether bimonthly means "twice a month" or "every two months". Maybe we should stop using both of them until we can decide.

First Known Use of biennial

1562

Other Number-Related Terms

jubilee, myriad, quarantine, score, twain

BIENNIAL Defined for English Language Learners

biennial

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adjective

Definition of biennial for English Language Learners

: happening every two years
of a plant : living for only two years or seasons : having a life cycle that is two years or seasons long

BIENNIAL Defined for Kids

biennial

play

adjective bi·en·ni·al \ bī-ˈe-nē-əl \

Definition of biennial for Students

1 :occurring every two years

a biennial celebration

2 :growing stalks and leaves one year and flowers and fruit the next before dying

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biennially

\-ē-ə-lē\ adverb

Word Root of biennial

The Latin word annus, meaning “year,” gives us the root ann or enn. Words from the Latin annus have something to do with a year. Anything that is annual happens once a year and anything biennial happens once every two years. An anniversary is the return every year of the date on which something special happened. Something perennial continues all year long or comes back each year.