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Synonyms

biennial

American  
[bahy-en-ee-uhl] / baɪˈɛn i əl /

adjective

  1. happening every two years.

    biennial games.

  2. lasting or enduring for two years.

    a biennial life cycle.

  3. Botany. completing its normal term of life in two years, flowering and fruiting the second year, as beets or winter wheat.

noun

  1. any event occurring once in two years.

  2. Botany. a biennial plant.

biennial British  
/ baɪˈɛnɪəl /

adjective

  1. occurring every two years

  2. lasting two years Compare biannual

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a plant, such as the carrot, that completes its life cycle within two years, developing vegetative storage parts during the first year and flowering and fruiting in its second year Compare annual perennial

  2. an event that takes place every two years

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
biennial Scientific  
/ bī-ĕn′ē-əl /

  1. Completing a life cycle normally in two growing seasons.

  1. A biennial plant. In the first year, biennials normally produce a short stem, a rosette of leaves, and a fleshy root that acts as food supply. In the second season, biennials blossom, produce seed, use up their food supply, and die. Carrots, parsnips, and sugar beets are examples of biennials.

  2. Compare annual perennial

Commonly Confused

See bi- 1.

Other Word Forms

  • biennially adverb

Etymology

Origin of biennial

First recorded in 1615–25; bienni(um) + -al 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

On Wednesday, it was announced that Woods had turned down the role of United States Ryder Cup captain when the biennial tournament takes place in Ireland in 2027.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026

Pondering her return to sculpture after several decades as an acclaimed performance and conceptual artist, Fraser notes that the L.A. artists in this year’s biennial are united by the intersection of conceptual art and craft.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026

India has invited the frigate to take part in its biennial military exercises along with participants from dozens of navies.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026

The WTO is holding its ministerial conference, its biennial main gathering, in late March in Cameroon.

From Barron's • Feb. 13, 2026

Once the first two crates were completed, I carried them down to the art museum for consideration in their upcoming juried biennial.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.