quadrennial
adjective
Did you know?
Most things quadrennial occur every four years (that's the more common use). We can say, for example, that the U.S. presidential election is a quadrennial event. But we can also say that president's term in office is quadrennial, making good use of the "lasting four years" sense. The Latin combining form quadri- adds a factor of four to many English words: quadriceps (the thigh muscle, which has four parts), quadrilateral (a four-sided polygon), quadragenarian (a person in his or her 40s), and quadricentennial (a 400th anniversary), to name a few. The -ennial part of quadrennial has the same root as in biennial and centennial; all trace back to annus, the Latin word for "year."
Examples of quadrennial in a Sentence
Russell Hancock, Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2026
Until the International Olympic Committee announced last March that boxing would be included in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, there was doubt whether the sport's longtime presence in the quadrennial event would end.
—ABC News, 13 Feb. 2026
With the Games comes the quadrennial tradition of casual sports fans becoming experts in esoteric sports—for a couple weeks, at least.
—Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2026
The vast range of possible conditions and their increasing unpredictability makes planning for the quadrennial winter sporting event harder than ever before.
—Laura Millan, Bloomberg, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for quadrennial
Cite this Entry
“Quadrennial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quadrennial. Accessed 18 Apr. 2026.
Copy Citation
