biennial

[bahy-en-ee-uh l] /baɪˈɛn i əl/
adjective, Also, biyearly (for defs 1, 2).
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
4.
any event occurring once in two years.
5.
Botany. a biennial plant.
Origin
1615-25; bienni(um) + -al1
Related forms
biennially, adverb
Can be confused
biannual, biennial, semiannual (see usage note at bi-)
Usage note
See bi-1.
Examples from the web for biennial
  • No other team has won the biennial tournament three consecutive times.
  • Apparently, most varieties are perennial, but there are a few that are annual or even biennial.
  • The Americans have won seven consecutive matches in the biennial competition.
  • The biennial beet is often used in crop rotation.
  • Culture vultures descend on Venice for the city's biennial art fair.
  • The huge, biennial event dates back to 1924, when radio was introduced to German retailers as a hot new thing.
  • Since its inception the Academy, a notably conservative body, has maintained biennial.
  • Wordy types enjoy a night on the tiles at the biennial Scrabble world championship.
  • There's a biennial conference that I usually try to go to.
  • The biennial competition ends Sunday with 12 singles matches.
British Dictionary definitions for biennial

biennial

/baɪˈɛnɪəl/
adjective
1.
occurring every two years
2.
lasting two years Compare biannual
noun
3.
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 (sense 3), perennial (sense 3)
4.
an event that takes place every two years
Derived Forms
biennially, adverb
Word Origin and History for biennial
adj.

"lasting for two years" (1620s); "occurring every two years" (1750), from Latin biennium "two-year period," from bi- (see bi-) + annus "year" (see annual). The vowel change is "due to the Latin phonetic law according to which the unaccented and closed radical syllable of the second element of compounds, original -ă- becomes -ĕ-" [Klein]. The noun meaning "a biennial plant" is attested by 1770.

biennial in Science
biennial
(bī-ěn'ē-əl)
Adjective Completing a life cycle normally in two growing seasons.

Noun 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. Compare annual, perennial.