anniversary
/ˌænɪˈvɜːs(ə)ɹi/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.53 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
5
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A day that is an exact number of years (to the day) since a given significant event occurred. Often preceded by an ordinal number indicating the number of years.
noun
A day that is an exact number of years (to the day) since a given significant event occurred. Often preceded by an ordinal number indicating the number of years.
noun
A day subsequent in time to a given event by some significant period other than a year (especially as prefixed by the amount of time in question).
Example Sentences
- "Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the war."
- "A 'millennium' is a thousand-year anniversary."
- "To some extent all anniversaries derive their significance from testing, from contemplating this observation, especially when it concerns cultures as radically different as those of Aboriginal Australia before first contact (and since), and of Georgian England."
- "As we mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we must seize this moment to build a genuine culture of free expression for all."
- "Today, our Nation celebrates the 81st anniversary of Imperial Japan’s unconditional surrender—the moment American might brought the Second World War to its end in complete and total victory."
- "We are celebrating our tenth anniversary today."
Etymology
From Middle English anniversary, from Medieval Latin anniversāria (diēs), anniversārium, from anniversārius (“yearly”), from annus (“year”) + versus, past participle of vertere (“to turn”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: anniversary, anniversāria
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌænɪˈvɜːs(ə)ɹi/
- British English: /ˌænɪˈvɜːs(ə)ɹi/
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
adoptaversary
annish
anniversarian
anniversarily
anniversariness
birthaversary
blogiversary
craniversary
dateaversary
deathiversary
decaversary
friendiversary