annual

[an-yoo-uh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR annual ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of, for, or pertaining to a year; yearly: annual salary.

occurring or returning once a year: an annual celebration.

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

performed or executed during a year: the annual course of the sun.

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

noun

Botany. a plant living only one year or season.

a book, report, etc., published annually.

Origin of annual

1350–1400; < Late Latin annuālis, equivalent to Latin annu(us) yearly (derivative of annus circuit of the sun, year) + -ālis -al¹; replacing Middle English annuel < Anglo-French < Latin

Related formsan·nu·al·ly, adverbin·ter·an·nu·al, adjectivein·ter·an·nu·al·ly, adverb

Can be confusedanal annual annulannual perennial

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for annually

Contemporary Examples of annually

Emails leaked by the GOP revealed that of the 17 Sony execs making $1 million or more annually, only one is a woman.
Exclusive: Aaron Sorkin Thinks Male Film Roles Have Bigger ‘Degree of Difficulty’ Than Female Ones
William Boot
December 15, 2014
The sanctimonious, the puritans of all stripes, and the killjoys in general raise the issue annually.
Keep Christmas Commercialized!
P. J. O’Rourke
December 6, 2014
The difference is nonetheless drastic: $220,119 and $44,453, respectively, on average per person annually.
Medicaid Will Give You Money for At-Home Care, but You Might Wait Years
Elizabeth Picciuto
December 2, 2014
The plague made a brief appearance in China earlier this year and continues in the U.S. with a few cases annually.
Bubonic Plague Is Back (but It Never Really Left)
Kent Sepkowitz
November 27, 2014
According to The Times, most jobs now pay less than $20 per hour, i.e., less than $40,000 annually.
With Immigration Move, Obama and the Welfare Party Strike Again
Lloyd Green
November 24, 2014

Historical Examples of annually

He visited London annually to preach in the Baptist churches.
Bunyan
James Anthony Froude
But it should suffice for it to meet for one day annually or thereabouts.
Shelley, Godwin and Their Circle
H. N. Brailsford
In a few years half a million pairs were being imported annually.
The Age of Invention
Holland Thompson
It was only the occasion of it that struck her with amazement annually.
Howards End
E. M. Forster
More than 35,000 photoplays are produced annually in the United States.
Faro Nell and Her Friends
Alfred Henry Lewis

British Dictionary definitions for annually

annual

adjective

occurring, done, etc, once a year or every year; yearlyan annual income

lasting for a yearan annual subscription

noun

a plant that completes its life cycle in less than one yearCompare perennial (def. 3), biennial (def. 3)

a book, magazine, etc, published once every year

Derived Formsannually, adverb

Word Origin for annual

C14: from Late Latin annuālis, from Latin annuus yearly, from annus 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

Word Origin and History for annually

adv.

1590s, from annual (adj.) + -ly (2).

annual

adj.

late 14c., from Old French annuel (12c.) or directly from Late Latin annualem (nominative annualis), corresponding to Latin annalis as adjective form of annus "year," from PIE *at-no-, from root *at- "to go," on notion of "period gone through" (cf. Sanskrit atati "goes, wanders," Gothic aþnam (dative plural) "year," Oscan akno- "year, holiday, time of offering"). Used of plants since 1710.

annual

c.1400, originally "service commemorating the anniversary of a person's death," from annual (adj.). By 1824 as short for annual plant.

annually in Science

annual

[ăn′yōō-əl]

Adjective

Completing a life cycle in one growing season.

Noun

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. Compare biennial perennial.