From Latin 'biennis,' 'bi-' (two) + 'annus' (year) — every two years, not to be confused with 'biannual' (twice a year).
Taking place every other year; lasting for or living for two years. In botany: a plant that takes two years to complete its life cycle.
From Latin 'biennis' (lasting two years, occurring every two years), a compound of 'bi-' (two, twice), from PIE *dwóh₁ (two), and 'annus' (year), from PIE *h₂et-no- (going, a cycle, a year — literally 'the going around'). The PIE root for 'two' is one of the most stable numbers across all Indo-European languages, appearing as 'два' (dva) in Russian, 'dau' in Welsh, 'do' in Irish, 'duo' in Latin, 'δύο' (dýo) in Greek, and 'two' in English (the 'tw-' reflecting the original *dw- onset). The PIE root for 'year' connects to the
The Venice Biennale, the world's most prestigious art exhibition, takes its name from Italian 'biennale' (biennial). Founded in 1895, it occurs every two years. The word 'biennale' has been adopted into English as a common noun: 'a biennale' is any large-scale international art exhibition held every two years. The word thus
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