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Synonyms

annual

American  
[an-yoo-uhl] / ˈæn yu 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.


noun

  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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
annual Scientific  
/ ănyo̅o̅-əl /
  1. Completing a life cycle in one growing season.


  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

  • annually adverb
  • interannual adjective
  • interannually adverb

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“If prices stayed at this level, it would mean an extra $11 billion in annual expense just for jet fuel. For perspective, in United’s best year ever, we made less than $5 billion,” Kirby said.

From The Wall Street Journal

For a household on a tariff governed by regulator Ofgem's price cap, and using a typical amount of gas and electricity, the annual bill will drop to £1,641.

From BBC

An alarming nugget buried in the Treasury Department’s annual report External link on the federal government’s books from the last fiscal year: Its long-term liabilities exceed its expected revenue by tens of trillions of dollars.

From Barron's

Researchers estimated that it would incite higher unemployment and create a drag of 1% to 3% on annual gross domestic product growth.

From Barron's

Beyond Meat reported a drop in fourth-quarter sales and won't file its annual report on time due to new accounting problems.

From The Wall Street Journal