perennial
adjective
Did you know?
When you hear perennial, you probably think of peonies rather than pines. The word today typically describes (or, as a noun, refers to) plants that die back seasonally but produce new growth in the spring. But this wasn’t the word’s initial meaning: originally, perennial was equivalent to evergreen, used, as that word is, for plants that remain with us all year. We took this "throughout the year" sense straight from the Romans, whose Latin word perennis combined per- ("throughout") with a form of annus ("year"). The poet Ovid, writing around the beginning of the first millennium, used the Latin word to refer to a "perennial spring" (a water source), and the scholar Pliny used it of birds that don't migrate. Perennial retains these same uses today, for streams and occasionally for birds, but the word has long since branched out to encompass several other senses, including "constant" (as in "a perennial bestseller") and "recurring" (as in "the perennial joy of reading Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day").
Synonyms
Examples of perennial in a Sentence
Michael Kinsley, Time, 29 Oct. 2001
The issue between science and art is of perennial interest to me, since I started off in science in college, in medicine, was headed for psychiatry, and ended up writing novels …
—Walker Percy, "The State Of The Novel," 1977,
in Signposts in a Strange Land, 1991
… scientists are warning that a perennial viral threat, the upcoming flu season, could be far more dangerous than usual—more evidence that these tiny foes are responsible for a large share of human suffering.
—Claudia Wallis, Time, 3 Nov. 1986
This variety of oregano is perennial.
Flooding is a perennial problem for people living by the river.
Judy Berman, TIME, 16 Apr. 2024
In 2008, wastewater treatment facilities were updated and now provide about 35 miles of perennial flows.
—Hayleigh Evans, The Arizona Republic, 16 Apr. 2024
This perennial plant is known for having silvery foliage, appearing thick and softly textured.
—Steve Bender, Southern Living, 9 Apr. 2024
The general guideline for perennial blooming plants is to cut back to the ground all the dead, brown stems and foliage that wasn’t cut in the fall.
—Betty Cahill, The Denver Post, 7 Apr. 2024
Stora is a perennial local political candidate who in the past three years has launched unsuccessful long-shot bids for governor, mayor and city council member, according to public records.
—Kim Bellware, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024
Mike Budenholzer took over as the Bucks head coach in 2018 and immediately catapulted the Bucks to the top of the East (as well as helped Giannis Antetokounmpo turn into a perennial MVP candidate).
—Brian Sampson, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
This East African country is seeing growing interest in bamboo, a perennial plant cultivated in many parts of the world.
—Rodney Muhumuza, Quartz, 24 Mar. 2024
Having Adebayo, a perennial NBA Defensive Player of the Year candidate, anchoring everything the Heat does on that end of the court helps.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 3 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'perennial.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Perennial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perennial. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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perennial
adjective
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