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
Stephanie Vermillion, Vogue, 15 May 2025
The friendship appears to go beyond one between a leader of a World Cup host nation — the United States is co-hosting the next edition of the quadrennial tournament in 2026 with Mexico and Canada — and the head of global soccer.
—Tariq Panja, New York Times, 14 May 2025
There is a unanimous consensus within the sport that, in spite of this evolution, for most people, athletics is still a quadrennial affair.
—Liam Tharme, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025
The competition was launched in 2018 with the intention of creating more meaningful international matches across the region, particularly for smaller nations that typically don’t advance very far in Concacaf’s quadrennial World Cup qualifying tournament.
—Ian Nicholas Quillen, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for quadrennial
Cite this Entry
“Quadrennial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quadrennial. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share