Word origin
[1895–1900; ‹ L, equiv. to
bi- bi-1 +
-enn- (comb. form of
annus year) +
-ium -ium]This word is first recorded in the period 1895–1900. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: Marxism, flamenco, hit-and-run, neon, slapstickbi- is a combining form meaning “twice,” “two,” used in the formation of compound words.Other words that use the affix bi- include: bilingual, bimodal, bisect, bivalent, bivalve; -ium is a suffix found on nouns borrowed from Latin, esp. derivatives of verbs (odium; tedium; colloquium; delirium), deverbal compounds with the initial element denoting the object of the verb (nasturtium), other types of compounds (equilibrium; millennium), and derivatives of personal nouns, often denoting the associated status or office(collegium; consortium; magisterium); -ium also occurs in scientific coinages on a Latin model, as in names of metallic elements(barium; titanium) and as a Latinization of Greek -ion (pericardium)