Pronounced: TEG-yuh-luhr, adj
Notes: Not what I thought (and NOT a misspelling of “regular”)
Yesterday’s word
The word biannual means
- occurring twice a year
- occurring once every two years
First usage
Our word came into English in the late 1800s
Background / Comments
Just like “biweekly”, our word can have different meanings. Some people teach that “semiannual” should be used for things that occur twice a year, and our word for things occurring every two years; however, this practice is not followed by everyone. A clear word for something that occurs every two years is “biennial”. Our word came from Latin – the second part came from annu (yearly). The first part is bi- (twice; two) and this is the source of the confusion: it could mean “twice yearly” or “two years”.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 