quadrennial

adjective

qua·dren·ni·al kwä-ˈdre-nē-əl

: consisting of or lasting for four years

: occurring or being done every four years

quadrennial noun

quadrennially

kwä-ˈdre-nē-ə-lē

adverb

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

Recent Examples on the Web Russian aggression in Ukraine has also had an impact on the Special Olympics, which holds quadrennial summer and winter games. —

David K. Li, NBC News, 19 Mar. 2024 The quadrennial quirk of the calendar was the perfect time to reveal that the final chapter in the Blurryface saga will unfold when the Columbus, Ohio duo’s seventh album drops on May 17. —

Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 29 Feb. 2024 Welcome to Leap Day, that odd quadrennial occurrence that lets the Gregorian calendar catch up with the Earth’s orbit. —

Chris Morris, Fortune, 29 Feb. 2024 The quadrennial holiday is celebrated on Feb. 29, 2024 — marking its first return to the calendar since 2020. —

Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 19 Feb. 2024 Optimism about the quadrennial Bitcoin halving due in April is also filtering across crypto. —

Bloomberg, Orange County Register, 12 Feb. 2024 The quadrennial tournament sees 24 teams drawn into six groups of four that play in a round-robin format. —

James Robson, USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2024 The quadrennial South American championship is one of the world’s most prestigious soccer competitions and this year the field was expanded to include the United States, Mexico and other teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean. —

Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 25 Jan. 2024 Steve Cook, who runs an audiovisual company in Iowa City, is one of the many beneficiaries of the quadrennial surge of economic activity in Iowa. —

Rebecca Davis O’Brien, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2024

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.