quadricentennial

[ kwod-ruh-sen-ten-ee-uhl ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or marking the completion of a period of four hundred years.

noun

1. a quadricentennial anniversary.
2. its celebration.

quadricentennial

/ ˌkwɒdrɪsɛnˈtɛnɪəl /

noun

1. a 400th anniversary

adjective

1. of, relating to, or celebrating a 400th anniversary

Word History and Origins

Origin of quadricentennial¹

First recorded in 1880–85; quadri- + centennial

Example Sentences

This “Tartuffe” was supposed to launch France’s yearlong celebration of Molière’s quadricentennial in style.

From New York Times

But other city centers have other narratives, and not surprisingly, given that the movement had its first success at the Columbus quadricentennial, more than a few of these grand spaces celebrate the Genoese sailor whose voyage to America initiated so much misery.

From Washington Post

This month, we mark the quadricentennial of the arrival of the first Africans to America.

From Seattle Times

Obscurity suited Ms. Ingalls, who grew up near Boston, the daughter of a Harvard Sanskrit professor, and found herself drawn to England by the quadricentennial celebrations of Shakespeare’s birth in 1964.

From Washington Post

After graduating from Radcliffe, she spent the summer of 1964 in England, to see all the quadricentennial productions of Shakespeare that she could; the next year, she moved there permanently.

From The New Yorker