biennial

[bahy-en-ee-uh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR biennial ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective Also biyearly (for defs 1, 2).

happening every two years: biennial games.

lasting or enduring for two years: a biennial life cycle.

Botany. completing its normal term of life in two years, flowering and fruiting the second year, as beets or winter wheat.

noun

any event occurring once in two years.

Botany. a biennial plant.

Origin of biennial

First recorded in 1615–25; bienni(um) + -al¹

Related formsbi·en·ni·al·ly, adverb

Can be confusedbiannual biennial semiannual (see usage note at bi-¹)

Usage note

See bi-¹.

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

Related Words for biennial

flower, shrub, tree, vine, grass, seedling, weed, herb, shoot, perennial, slip, annual, bush, cutting, sprout, greenery, creeper, biennial

Examples from the Web for biennial

Contemporary Examples of biennial

Those are results of the biennial Chicago Council on Global Affairs survey of public opinion on foreign policy (PDF).
Who Else Opposes An Iran Attack?
Ali Gharib
September 11, 2012
At the Biennial, only a very few artworks escape to stand on their own.
Whitney Museum’s Biennial: A Big Yawn
Blake Gopnik
March 1, 2012
She had similar fears when 2010 Biennial curators Bonami and Gary Carrion-Murayari came calling last year.
The Biennial's Breakout Star
Rachel Wolff
February 25, 2010

Historical Examples of biennial

The state legislature had assembled in biennial session that winter.
The Rainy Day Railroad War
Holman Day
Biennial means lasting two years or occurring once in two years.
Orthography
Elmer W. Cavins
The sessions, however, were biennial, and could only be convened by authority of the Governor.
A Military Genius
Sarah Ellen Blackwell
It is a biennial plant, and is cultivated for its leaves and leaf-stalks.
The Field and Garden Vegetables of America
Fearing Burr
Elections in the Senate are of three sorts: annual, biennial, and extraordinary.
The Commonwealth of Oceana
James Harrington

British Dictionary definitions for biennial

biennial

adjective

occurring every two years

lasting two yearsCompare biannual

noun

a plant, such as the carrot, that completes its life cycle within two years, developing vegetative storage parts during the first year and flowering and fruiting in its second yearCompare annual (def. 3), perennial (def. 3)

an event that takes place every two years

Derived Formsbiennially, adverb

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 biennial

adj.

"lasting for two years" (1620s); "occurring every two years" (1750), from Latin biennium "two-year period," from bi- (see bi-) + annus "year" (see annual). The vowel change is "due to the Latin phonetic law according to which the unaccented and closed radical syllable of the second element of compounds, original -ă- becomes -ĕ-" [Klein]. The noun meaning "a biennial plant" is attested by 1770.

biennial in Science

biennial

[bī-ĕn′ē-əl]

Adjective

Completing a life cycle normally in two growing seasons.

Noun

A biennial plant. In the first year, biennials normally produce a short stem, a rosette of leaves, and a fleshy root that acts as food supply. In the second season, biennials blossom, produce seed, use up their food supply, and die. Carrots, parsnips, and sugar beets are examples of biennials. Compare annual perennial.