English
biennial
Biennial comes from Latin bienni(um) ‘two-year period’, and goes back to annus.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEannus‘year’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbienni(um)‘two-year period’
- Englishearliest quotation 1891biennial
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEannus‘year’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbienni(um)‘two-year period’
- Englishearliest quotation 1891biennial
Earliest quotation: 1891, Sir George Chetwynd, Racing Reminiscences and Experiences of the Turf: “The famous Biennial was won by Earl of Dartrey,…”
Equivalent to bi- + -ennial
Linked words
through Latin annus ‘year’
annual, ann, millennium, annuity, annum, perennial, millennial, 12 more
Today it means
adj Happening every two years.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin annus / biennial