biennial

adjective

bi·en·ni·al (ˌ)bī-ˈe-nē-əl

: occurring every two years

a biennial celebration

: continuing or lasting for two years

specifically, of a plant : growing vegetatively during the first year and fruiting and dying during the second

Biennial herbs flower in their second year.

biennial noun

biennially

(ˌ)bī-ˈe-nē-ə-lē

adverb

What do bimonthly and biweekly mean?: Usage Guide

Many people are puzzled about bimonthly and biweekly, which are often ambiguous because they are formed from two different senses of bi-: "occurring every two" and "occurring two times." This ambiguity has been in existence for nearly a century and a half and cannot be eliminated by the dictionary. The chief difficulty is that many users of these words assume that others know exactly what they mean, and they do not bother to make their context clear. So if you need bimonthly or biweekly, you should leave some clues in your context to the sense of bi- you mean. And if you need the meaning "twice a," you can substitute semi- for bi-. Biannual and biennial are usually differentiated.

Did you know?

Biennial conventions, celebrations, competitions, and sports events come every two years. Biennials are plants that live two years, bearing flowers and fruit only in the second year. (Carrots and sugar beets are two examples; since we're only interested in their roots, we don't wait another year to see their flower and fruit.) In contrast, semiannual means "twice a year". But no one can agree whether biweekly means "twice a week" or "every two weeks", and whether bimonthly means "twice a month" or "every two months". Maybe we should stop using both of them until we can decide.

Examples of biennial in a Sentence

The governor explained the biennial budget proposal.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

According to the South Bend Tribune, legislators in the Indiana House of Representatives recently proposed a biennial budget that did not include the usual 50 percent matching funds the state provides to finance the program. —

Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 19 Feb. 2025 The biennial festival, founded in 2022, has become one of the most important literary gatherings in Africa. —

Abdi Latif Dahir, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2025 This year, Morocco is set to host the Africa Dup of Nations (AFCON), a biennial soccer tournament. —

Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 13 Jan. 2025 Driving the news: About 28.3% of Americans volunteered through a formal organization at least once between September 2022-23, per AmeriCorps' biennial report, which is based on survey data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. —

Annalise Frank, Axios, 3 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for biennial