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
Tim Chan, Variety, 2 Nov. 2023
Even those playing a level or three below the World Cup find this the best part of the quadrennial period.
—Victor Mather, New York Times, 21 Sep. 2023
Full Play, incorporated in Uruguay and owned by the father-son duo Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, is accused of paying bribes for the rights to the Copa America, a quadrennial national team competition, as well as World Cup qualifying matches and one-off matches, known as friendlies.
—Michael R. Sisak, Fortune, 18 Jan. 2023
Those are the questions for every competitor at this quadrennial kickaround.
—John Powers, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Aug. 2023
Portugal’s women’s soccer team had to play 13 qualifying matches to earn its first World Cup appearance, winning five in a row to make it to the quadrennial tournament for the first time.
—John Powers, BostonGlobe.com, 30 July 2023
In Indiana, the county assessor must determine land values and submit them to the county’s Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals prior to each quadrennial reassessment.
—Carrie Napoleon, Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 2022
When questioned by the board, Lake County Assessor LaTonya Spearman clarified the values posted in 2018 would have been for the quadrennial cycle ending in 2022, while the base values posted this year are for the upcoming quadrennial cycle.
—Carrie Napoleon, Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 2022
That burger’s tenure was later extended to celebrate Messi’s first global quadrennial tournament win.
—Henry Chandonnet, Peoplemag, 12 July 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'quadrennial.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
circa 1656, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Podcast
Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!
Dictionary Entries Near quadrennial
Cite this Entry
“Quadrennial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quadrennial. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.
Copy Citation
Share