Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The annually recurring date of a past event, especially one of historical, national, or personal importance: a wedding anniversary; the anniversary of the founding of Rome.
- n. A celebration commemorating such a date.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Returning with the revolution of the year; annual; yearly: as, an anniversary feast.
- In the University of Cambridge, commemoration-day, an occasion upon which degrees are conferred since the disuse of the acts. See act, n., 5.
- n. The annually recurring date of some past event; more generally, a day set apart in each year for some commemorative observance; a day for the annual celebration of some notable event, public or private.
- n. In the Roman Catholic Church, the yearly commemoration of the day of a person's death, by a mass offered for his soul, or such commemoration of his death daily for a year.
- n. The act of celebrating a day on its annual recurrence; a yearly commemoration, or (rarely) something done or prepared for such commemoration.
Wiktionary
- n. Of a significant event, a day that is an exact number of years (to the day) since the event occurred. Often preceded by an ordinal number indicating the number of years that have elapsed since the event.
- n. loosely A day subsequent in time to a given event by some (especially significant) factor other than a year (especially as prefixed by the amount of time in question).
- n. more specifically Such, where the event is a wedding.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Returning with the year, at a stated time; annual; yearly.
- n. The annual return of the day on which any notable event took place, or is wont to be celebrated.
- n. (R. C. Ch.) The day on which Mass is said yearly for the soul of a deceased person; the commemoration of some sacred event, as the dedication of a church or the consecration of a pope.
- n. The celebration which takes place on an anniversary day.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the date on which an event occurred in some previous year (or the celebration of it)
Etymologies
- From the Latin adjective anniversarius ("returning yearly"), from vertere ("to turn"), + annus ("year"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English anniversarie, from Medieval Latin (diēs) anniversāria, anniversary (day), from Latin, feminine of anniversārius, returning yearly : annus, year; see at- in Indo-European roots + versus, past participle of vertere, to turn; see wer-2 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The timing of this anniversary is another wonderful quirk in Michigan State's dream run to the national title game in 2009, that it would come exactly three decades after Magic and Bird changed the face of their game with their classic rivalry.”
“My contribution to the anniversary is an article where a dozen writers share their memories of the first time they saw Star Wars.”
“This anniversary is a fitting symbol of the great number of links between Ontario and the United Kingdom, links of tradition, of kinship, of trade and of way of life.”
“He bristled at the word "anniversary" and told me that he had a hard time associating that word which for him conjured up memories of celebration with one of the worst days of his life.”
“Rachel Maddow observed what she called the anniversary "of the start of Newt Gingrich's collapse in political life" on her show Tuesday night.”
“Caroline Goulding's season-opening concert for YCA's 50th anniversary is a testament to the organization that she founded in 1961 with a simple but complex mission: to discover and launch the careers of extraordinary but unknown young musicians.”
“Our 10 year wedding anniversary is April 15, 2010 and we are planning a renewal ceremony.”
“Oh, and I just realized that my anniversary is next Friday!”
“This anniversary is one that most investors would rather forget: the tenth year after the 2000 market bubble burst.”
Retirement Planning: News, Investment Advice, Calculators & Tools - USATODAY.com
“And while the six month anniversary is an appropriate time to reflect on what has happened and where we need to go, as Secretary Mabus warns, it will take many years of sustained commitment to renew the productivity of the region.”
The Huffington Post: Vikki N. Spruill: Six Months Later: Keeping Faith in the Gulf
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘anniversary’.
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Time
clock, forever, never, ever, ago, when, then, now, past, present, future, timeline and 119 more...
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Thresholds
we are all just passing through.
(boundaries, portals and liminal spaces/times)cockcrow, interface, thin line, portal, postern, littoral, portico, porch, stoop, strand, liminal, limen and 304 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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-ann-, -enn-
year; yearly
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
contemplate, container, consumer, consultant, consensus, conscious, conscience, connection, confusion, confront, conflict, confident and 4334 more...
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♡LOVE and things like it♡
dedicated to my man Steven, without whom i would be addicted to drugs, lying in a gutter, hating myself, or hooking somewhere :)
affectionate, amative, amatory, amiable, ammophilous, amorous, ardent, attached to, attracted to, beloved, bewitching, bitten and 404 more...
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Turning and Twisting Tours
words in the nature of double spirals
swift, swerve, swirl, swivel, swarm, swag, swank, swoop, swinge, swarf, spire, esparto and 361 more...
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2007bee-r02
2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee Round 2
query, tendency, danceable, parachute, malignant, brutal, humanely, lyrically, deductible, shindig, gravel, embroidered and 274 more...
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TN5 Lesson 51
dressing table, knock, anybody, ladder, gossip, fire, Santa Claus, snow, snowstorm, end, ever, shoulder and 16 more...
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shindig
shivarees, fiestas, and other celebrations
shivaree, shindig, hoedown, fiesta, celebration, party, partay, revel, gala, ball, masquerade, bash and 43 more...
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Words Invoking Curiosity
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yt458's list
Tweets
Looking for tweets for anniversary.
pterodactyl See this map for American pronunciation. Apr 10, 2008
uselessness Try mensiversary. Jan 17, 2007
tankexmortis So what's the monthly equivalent of this word, anyway? Jan 17, 2007