biennial
adjective
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
Kansas City Star, 20 Apr. 2025
The Senate approved House Bill 1001, the biennial budget, in a 40-9 vote.
—Alexandra Kukulka, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2025
Attend • April brings succulent experts and lovers from around the world to San Diego for the Cactus and Succulent Society of America’s biennial convention, April 23 to 27 at the Mission Valley Marriott.
—Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Apr. 2025
The biennial Euroluce lighting exhibition will return to the fairgrounds, as will trade shows devoted to furnishing accessories and the workplace.
—Julie Lasky, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for biennial
Cite this Entry
“Biennial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biennial. Accessed 27 Apr. 2025.
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biennial
adjective
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