Annual, Biannual, Biennual, Perennial, Millennium, Biennial, Quinquennium, Vicennial

 Annual, Biannual, Biennial, Perennial,  Millennium, Biennial, Quinquennium, Vicennial

Let's learn the vocabulary on period of time.

What is the meaning of Annual ?

Annual means happening one a year.

It is a period of one year.

1. We have an annual meeting for parents.
2. What is your annual income?

What is the meaning of Biannual ?

Biannual means happening something twice a year. A biannual event happens two times in a year.

1. Company have biannual fee structure.
2. Students have to pass biannual examination.

What is the meaning of Biennial ?

Biennial means happening once every two years. Biennial event happens once every two years.

Biennial plants lives for two years, and produce flowers in the second year.

1. For now, the bunker's artistic transformation is being done on a biennial basis.
2. Admission fee to the entire biennial is 10 euros.

What is the meaning of Perennial ?

Perennial means continuing for a very long time. Something happening again and again is called perennial.

A perennial plant lives for many years.

1. There is a perennial shortage of food in our country.
2. He saw no reason to change his perennial opinion of her as a sour and fidgety frustration.

What is the meaning of Quinquennial ?

Quinquennial means happening every five years. 

Quinquennial means that lasts for five years.

1. Party has conducted quinquennial polls.
2. Sometime in October, the Communist Party leadership will gather for the 19th Party Congress, a quinquennial event where the future leadership of the party is determined.

What is the meaning of Vicennial ?

Vicennial means happening after every 20 years, lasting 20 years.

Event that occurs once in 20 years is known as vicennial event.

What is the meaning of Millennium ?

Millennium means a period of 1000 years.

1. For millennium, it was accepted that the earth was at the centre of the universe.
2. They had a party to celebrate the millennium.

How to memorize these words ?

These words can easily memorize using its origin.

Annual means once a year. Annual is derived from "a" + annus; a means once and annus is a Latin word for year. Hence it means once a year.

Biannual means happening two times in one year. It is derived from "bi" which means two and Latin "annus" means year.

Biennial means happening after two years. It is derived from "bi" + ennial. Bi means two and ennial means years.

Here biannual and biennial can create confusion. We will solve the confusion  down the post.

Pereninial means continuing for a very long time. It is derived from "per" and "annus"; per means through or continuing and annus means year.

Quinquennial means happening once after five year, derived from quinque + ennial. Quinque means five and ennial means year.

Millennium means a period of 1000 years. It is derived from "mille" that means thousand + annus meaning year.

Vicennial means happening after every 20 years. It is derived from Latin "viceni" means twenty, which is related with the Hindi word bees (20) and annus, year.

What is the difference between biennial and biannual ?

These words are often confused. 

Biannual means happening twice a year whereas biennial means means happening after two years. In short, biannual for twice a year, and biennial for once two years.

The problem is how we should memorize the words in correct way. Here we use memory trick. Biannul from bi + annual, and Biennial from bi + ennial, bi means two, annual means a year; if annual means one year, we can assume that ennial means more than one year (as man for one, men for two or more than one). In this way, we can memorize that biennial means once in two years.

I have read some fantastic books on English language that really helped me improve my writing. You can buy my recommended books on Amazon. Here is the lists below:

Books on Grammar:

Books	Buy Links	Rating
The Elephants Of Style		4.5/5
English Grammar in Use Book		4.5/5
Practical English Usage		4.5/5
The Elements of Style		4.5/5
Essentials of English		4.5/5
Handbook of English Grammar and Usage		4.5/5
Woe Is I		4.5/5
Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing		4.5/5
It was the best of sentences, it was the worst of sentences.		4.5/5
If you want more books on English language, click the link