| 释义 |
biennial, a. and n.|baɪˈɛnɪəl|
[f. L. bienni-s of two years, bienni-um space of two years (f. bi- two + annus year) + -al1.]
A. adj.
1. Existing or lasting for two years; changed every two years.
1621Howell Lett. I. i. xli, The Duke is there [at Genoa] but Biennial, being chang'd every two years. a1711Ken Hymnoth. Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 12 Biennial Stores they [ants] treasure under Earth. 1854Woodward Mollusca (1856), The land-snails are mostly biennial.
b. esp. of plants; see B.
1691Ray Creation i. (J.), Some..very long lived, others only annual or biennial. 1755Gentl. Mag. XXV. 69 The common hemlock is biennial. 1805Knight in Phil. Trans. XCV. 262 Annual and biennial plants.
2. Recurring, happening, or taking place once in every two years.
1750Johnson Rambl. No. 61 ⁋6 Whom he condescends to honour with a biennial visit.
B. n. Bot. A plant which springs from seed and vegetates one year (or growing season), and flowers, fructifies, and perishes the next.
1770Waring in Phil. Trans. LXI. 385 Biennials..are the natural..product of such places. 1815Encycl. Brit. (ed. 5) III. 610 Of the esculent kinds, the cabbage, savoy, carrot, parsnip, beet, onion, leek, etc., are biennials.
Add:[B.] 2. Chiefly U.S. An event taking place biennially; spec. (a) an examination formerly held at Yale (and subsequently at other American universities); (b) any of various named art exhibitions, music festivals, etc. (cf. *biennale n.); later extended to include similar events not held biennially.
1853Root & Lombard Songs of Yale 4 The ‘Biennial’ is an Examination occurring twice during the course,—at the close of the Sophomore and of the Senior years, in all the studies pursued during the two years previous. It was established in 1850. 1928Art & Archaeol. XXVI. 170/2 The Eleventh Corcoran Biennial is..the most significant and the broadest exhibit ever hung in Washington. 1946Britannica Bk. of Year (U.S.) 555/1 The year 1945 was the year of the Corcoran Biennial in Washington. 1981Art News May 95/2 These ‘biennials’—a word used by rote now to indicate large juried, invitational survey shows—are actually descendants of the big annual painting salons of 19th-century Europe and the blockbuster Venice Biennale, which began in the 1890s. |