Link Centre Dictionary

biennial

bien·nial

UK/baɪˈɛn.i.əl/ US/baɪˈɛniʌl/ uncommon
adjective (2) noun (1)

adjective

1.

occurring every second year

  • “they met at biennial conventions”
Synonyms
2.

having a life cycle lasting two seasons

  • “a biennial life cycle”
  • “parsnips and carrots are biennial plants often grown as annuals”
Synonyms
Antonyms

noun

1.

a plant having a life cycle that normally takes two seasons from germination to death to complete; flowering biennials usually bloom and fruit in the second season

Origin

Borrowed from Latin bienni(um) (“two-year period”) [from bis, bi- (“twice”) + annus (“year”)] + -al (suffix forming adjectives). By surface analysis, bi- + -ennial.

Phrases

  • quasi-biennial oscillation

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.