biennial

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

Updated on: 19 May 2018

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

In January 2011, a month into his first term as lieutenant governor, about 6,500 homeless people were identified in city’s the biennial count.

— angela hart, sacbee, "Here's what the candidates for California governor got wrong in last night's debate | The Sacramento Bee," 9 May 2018
The third biennial event, hosted by the Bienen School of Music, will span three days of performances, lectures, master classes and panel discussions.

— john von rhein, chicagotribune.com, "Recommended Chicago classical concerts for April 20-26," 19 Apr. 2018
For once, John Berggruen got off easy at Modern Ball — the biennial fundraiser benefitting the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

— catherine bigelow, San Francisco Chronicle, "Art lovers at the bold, bright Modern Ball raise $4 million for SFMOMA," 27 Apr. 2018
Also launching a biennial this year is the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona.

— leah ollman, latimes.com, "Ceramic art, once written off as mere craft, wins a brighter spotlight in the L.A. scene," 25 Apr. 2018
Britain has tried to use the biennial heads of government meeting to reinvigorate a disparate group that takes in 2.4 billion people on five continents but has struggled to carve out a firm place on the world stage.

— Fox News, "Prince Charles approved to lead Commonwealth, reports say," 20 Apr. 2018
The event was part of ICEX 2018, a biennial exercise designed to maintain arctic navigation and survival skills among U.S. forces.

— kyle mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Watch a US Navy Submarine Smash Through Polar Ice," 17 Apr. 2018
The biennial event has been sponsored by Red Bull since 2014, with most of the competitors coming from Europe and Asia.

— don markus, baltimoresun.com, "Before trying to start pro career, former Maryland linebacker Jalen Brooks takes one more international trip," 10 Apr. 2018
Funding for the dream a decade in the making is included in the $2.6 billion biennial capital budget recently signed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

— jeanne houck, Cincinnati.com, "A pavilion in the park: Mount Washington's dream coming true," 6 Apr. 2018

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

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Other Number-Related Terms

jubilee, myriad, quarantine, score, twain

BIENNIAL Defined for English Language Learners

biennial

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

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.