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Which of these flowers is an annual?

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annual

American  

[an-yoo-uhl] / ˈæn ju əl /

adjective

1. of, for, or pertaining to a year; yearly.

   annual salary.

2. occurring or returning once a year.

   an annual celebration.

3. Botany. living only one growing season, as beans or corn.

4. performed or executed during a year.

   the annual course of the sun.

5. Entomology. living or lasting but one season or year, as certain insects or colonies of insects.

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noun

• annuals
  plural

1. Botany. a plant living only one year or season.

2. a book, report, etc., published annually.

annual British  

/ ˈænjʊəl /

adjective

1. occurring, done, etc, once a year or every year; yearly

   an annual income

2. lasting for a year

   an annual subscription

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noun

1. a plant that completes its life cycle in less than one year Compare perennial biennial

2. a book, magazine, etc, published once every year

annual Scientific  

/ ăn′yo̅o̅-əl /

1. Completing a life cycle in one growing season.

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1. An annual plant. Annuals germinate, blossom, produce seed, and die in one growing season. They are common in environments with short growing seasons. Most desert plants are annuals, germinating and flowering after rainfall. Many common weeds, wild flowers, garden flowers, and vegetables are annuals. Examples of annuals include tomatoes, corn, wheat, sunflowers, petunias, and zinnias.

2. Compare biennial perennial

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interannual
  adjective
• annually
  adverb
• interannually
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• annuals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of annual

1350–1400; < Late Latin annuālis, equivalent to Latin annu ( us ) yearly (derivative of annus circuit of the sun, year) + -ālis -al ¹; replacing Middle English annuel < Anglo-French < Latin

Explanation

When something is annual, it happens once a year. An annual holiday party should be a time for fun, but it also can be a sad yearly reminder of the passage of time. An annual event happens every year: "I always forget to take sunglasses to my annual eye exam and am left wearing those horrible disposable shades." Annual earnings are made over the course of a year: "His annual income is on a steady decline." And an annual plant lives for only a year: "My neighbor Shirley always plants the most garishly bright annuals instead of more subdued perennials." Whether it's eye exams, income, or plants, you can expect to see something annual again in about 365 days.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

annual annuals

The targets are based on annual figures which can be volatile but JRF and the Scottish government agree that three-year averages are more useful, external.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

The annual event is playing host to a feast of movies from countries around the world and such prominent directors as Mike Leigh, Werner Herzog and Pedro Almodóvar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Having had my annual physical three weeks earlier, I was ready to compare those results to Neko’s, which used its proprietary radiation-free technology to create a baseline of my skin, heart, blood and metabolic health.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

These included eliminating the coverage “donut” hole and a $2,100 annual cap on out-of-pocket costs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

On July 4, at the annual Independence Day dinner held by the Society of the Cincinnati, Burr and Hamilton actually sat together at the same table.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Where there had been a jungle of weeds and vines, perennials and annuals bloomed thanks to avid volunteer gardeners and contributions from locals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025

Koons said he’s excited to use native succulents and drought-tolerant plants as well as perennials and annuals that will provide a richness of color.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2025

And the exception was the 80th anniversary of the first book, when the Dundee-based publisher released The Broons and Oor Wullie annuals in the same year.

From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2023

These plant species include ferns, herbs, shrubs, vines and trees, annuals and perennials, grasses and forbs, plants of the tropics, subtropics, temperate and boreal zones, and conifers.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2023

Because of this ease of domestication, big-seeded annuals were the first, or among the first, crops developed not only in the Fertile Crescent but also in China and the Sahel.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

• yearlong