anniversary n : the date on which an event occurred in some previous year (or the celebration of it) [syn: day of remembrance]

English

Etymology

From the Latin adjective anniversarius, "returning yearly", from vertere, "to turn", + annus, "year".

Noun

1. 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.

   Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the war.

2. Specifically, a wedding anniversary.

   We are celebrating our tenth anniversary today.

Translations

wedding anniversary See wedding anniversary

See also

• wedding anniversary
• birthday

An anniversary (from the Latin anniversarius, from the words for year and to turn, meaning (re)turning yearly; known in English since c. 1230) is a day that commemorates and/or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints.

Anniversary names

• Birthdays (v.) are the most common type of anniversary, where the birth date of a person is commemorated annually. The actual celebration is sometimes moved for practical reasons, as in the case of an official birthday.
• Wedding anniversaries are also often celebrated on the same day of the year as the wedding occurred.
• Death anniversary

The Latin phrase dies natalis (literally birth day) has become a common term, adopted in many languages, especially in intellectual and institutional circles, for the anniversary of the founding ('legal or statutory birth') of an institution, such as an alma mater (college or other school). Even in ancient Rome, we know of the [dies] Aquilae natalis ('birthday of the eagle', anniversary of the official founding of a legion).

Most countries around the world celebrate national anniversaries, for example the United States Bicentennial. These could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption of a new constitution or form of government. The important dates in a sitting monarch's reign may also be commemorated.

Anniversaries of nations are usually marked by the number of years elapsed described Latin words or Roman numerals.

Latin-derived numerical names

The root elements of each word are literally multiplied together to create the anniversary name. For example, the word sesquicentennial (an anniversary of 150 years) is broken down as sesqui- (1½) x centennial (100 years). Sometimes new anniversary names are coined incorrectly by adding the root elements rather than multiplying them, with unfortunate results.

• Annual - 1 year
• Biennial - 2 years
• Triennial - 3 years
• Quadrennial - 4 years
• Quinquennial - 5 years
• Sexennial - 6 years
• Septennial - 7 years
• Octennial - 8 years
• Novennial - 9 years
• Decennial - 10 years
• Undecennial - 11 years
• Duodecennial - 12 years
• Tredecennial - 13 years
• Quattuordecennial - 14 years
• Quindecennial - 15 years
• Vigintennial or vicennial - 20 years
• Semicentennial or quinquagenary - 50 years
• Semisesquicentennial - 75 years
  • Variations: Demisesquicentennial or hemisesquicentennial
• Centennial - 100 years
• Quasquicentennial - 125 years
• Sesquicentennial - 150 years
• Demisemiseptcentennial or quartoseptcentennial - 175 years
  • Note: Terquasquicentennial is a coined word for an anniversary of 175 years, but the elements of the word literally refer to an anniversary of 375 years, as follows: ter- (3) x quasqui- (1¼) x centennial (100 years)
  • Note: Septaquintaquinquecentennial is a coined word for an anniversary of 175 years, but the elements of the word literally refer to an anniversary of 35,000 years, as follows: septaquinta- (70) x quinque- (5) x centennial (100 years)
• Bicentennial - 200 years
• Semiquincentennial - 250 years
• Tercentennial or tricentennial - 300 years
• Semiseptcentennial - 350 years
• Quadricentennial or quatercentenary- 400 years
• Quincentennial - 500 years
• Sexcentennial - 600 years
• Septcentennial or septuacentennial - 700 years
• Octocentennial - 800 years
• Nonacentennial - 900 years
• Millennial - 1000 years
• Bimillennial - 2000 years

Anniversary symbols

Many anniversaries have special names. Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home by Emily Post, published in 1922, contained suggestions for wedding anniversary gifts for 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50 and 75 years. Wedding anniversary gift suggestions for other years were added in later editions and publications; they now comprise what is referred to as the "traditional" list. Generally speaking, the longer the period, the more precious and/or durable the material associated with it. See wedding anniversary for a general list of the wedding anniversary symbols, however there are variations in some national traditions.

Furthermore, there exist numerous partially overlapping, partially contradictory lists of anniversary gifts (such as wedding stones), separate from the 'traditional' names.

The concepts of a person's birthday stone, birth stone and zodiac stone, by contrast, are fixed for life according to the day of the week, month or astrological sign corresponding to the recipient's birthday.

References

See also

• Wedding anniversary

Sources and External links

• Creative Anniversary Calculator
• Extensive (and often contradictory) lists of anniversary names from The Math Forum - Ask Dr. Math

Admission Day, Arbor Day, Armed Forces Day, Armistice Day, Army Day, Bastille Day, Colorado Day, Constitution Day, Decoration Day, Dewali, Discovery Day, Double Ten, Easter Monday, Election Day, Empire Day, Evacuation Day, Flag Day, Foundation Day, Fourth of July, Groundhog Day, Halifax Day, Halloween, Holi, Ides of March, Kuhio Day, Labor Day, Lenin Memorial Day, Loyalty Day, Maryland Day, May Day, Mecklenburg Day, Memorial Day, Midsummer Day, National Aviation Day, Navy Day, Nevada Day, Pan American Day, Pascua Florida Day, Pioneer Day, Remembrance Day, Roosevelt Day, State Day, Texas Independence Day, United Nations Day, V-E Day, Victory Day, West Virginia Day, Wyoming Day, anniversaries, annual holiday, bicentenary, bicentennial, biennial, birthday, bissextile day, celebrating, celebration, centenary, centennial, ceremony, commemoration, decennial, diamond jubilee, dressing ship, fanfare, fanfaronade, festivity, flourish of trumpets, golden wedding anniversary, holiday, holy days, immovable feast, jubilee, leap year, marking the occasion, memorialization, memory, name day, natal day, observance, octennial, ovation, quadrennial, quasquicentennial, quincentenary, quincentennial, quinquennial, rejoicing, religious rites, remembrance, revel, rite, ritual observance, salute, salvo, septennial, sesquicentennial, sextennial, silver wedding anniversary, solemn observance, solemnization, tercentenary, tercentennial, testimonial, testimonial banquet, testimonial dinner, toast, tribute, tricennial, triennial, triumph, wedding anniversary