quadrennium
Americannoun
-
quadrenniums,
plural
-
quadrennia
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of quadrennium
1815–25; < New Latin, alteration of Latin quadriennium, equivalent to quadri- quadri- + -enn-, combining form of annus year ( cf. annual) + -ium -ium
Explanation
High school and college both last for a quadrennium. That's four years' time, even if, to some, it feels more like a millenium, i.e., a thousand. Quadrennium is one of the words that specifically names a period of years––an annum is one year, a decade ten, a century a hundred, and a millennium a thousand. Quad- refers to the number four. In college campus architecture, a quad is a lawn surrounded by ivy-covered brick buildings on four sides.
Vocabulary lists containing quadrennium
Olympics Vocabulary for Champions
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February Vocabulary Words
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ann, enn
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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.
See Examples For:
At the halfway mark of the Olympic quadrennium, the USA Track & Field event serves as an important checkpoint for the sport’s hope to break out of the four-year popularity cycle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2026
Unwilling to abandon the sport she still speaks about with adoration, she hung on for another quadrennium, well into her 20s.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 4, 2021
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke of New Zealand, who have since won and defended the America’s Cup, clinched the 49er gold with a race to spare to cap a dominating quadrennium.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 2, 2021
“The problem was Martha and Bela had retired and we didn’t have anybody pushing us,” he said of the 1997–2000 quadrennium.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2016
For another quadrennium his hand was on the party throttle.
From The Reign of Andrew Jackson by Frederic Austin Ogg
We just might be seeing him in World Cups for quadrennia to come.
From New York Times ● Jun. 21, 2018
As a result, the handful of Olympic hopefuls who get singled out for their potential star power have started demanding more cash than they did a few quadrenniums ago.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
