anniversary

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin adjective anniversarius (returning yearly), from annus (year) + vertere (to turn).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˌænɪˈvɜːs(ə)ɹi/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌænɪˈvɝs(ə)ɹi/, IPA(key): /ˌænəˈvɝs(ə)ɹi/
  • (file)
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Noun

anniversary (plural anniversaries)

  1. 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.
    Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the war.
    1. (especially) Such a day that commemorates a wedding.
      We are celebrating our tenth anniversary today.
  2. (loosely) 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).
    • 1984, ‘Never Mind the Tranquil Facade’, Time, 27 Feb 1984:
      The occasion was the six-month anniversary of the Aug. 8 coup that brought General Óscar Humberto Mejía Victores to power.
    • 2002, ‘Politics this Week’, The Economist, 14 Mar 2002:
      In a thinly veiled threat to Saddam Hussein, President George Bush marked the six-month anniversary of September 11th by reiterating America's commitment to prevent rogue countries obtaining weapons of mass destruction.
    • 2006, DB Schrock, Soulmonger Dot Com, page 28:
      Jonathon proposed to his [Jess's] mom on their three-month anniversary of meeting and married her on their fourth.

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