Biennial

//baɪˈɛn.i.əl// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A plant that requires two years to complete its life-cycle, germinating and growing in its first year, then producing its flowers and fruit in its second year, after which it usually dies.
  2. 2
    (botany) 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 wordnet
  3. 3
    An event that happens every two years.

    "The famous Biennial was won by Earl of Dartrey, a light, peacocky horse, who was, perhaps, better than he looked."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Happening every two years. not-comparable

    "This is a marked difference from the task force’s previous guidance, which was to start biennial mammograms by age 50."

  2. 2
    Lasting for two years. not-comparable
Adjective
  1. 1
    having a life cycle lasting two seasons wordnet
  2. 2
    occurring every second year wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
amphibianangiospermanniversaryannualannual holidayaquatic plant

Example

More examples

"Parsnip is a biennial species, similar to carrots."

Etymology

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

Related phrases

quasi-biennial oscillation

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.