anniversary
- 01 B1 Intermediate
a day that is exactly one or more years after a special event happened.
the annual recurrence of a date marking a notable past event, typically a wedding, the founding of an institution, or a historical occurrence.
Simple“My parents are celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary with a big party this weekend.”
In context“The university held a series of lectures and gala dinners to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of its founding by the royal charter.”
UsageOften preceded by an ordinal number like 'first', 'tenth', or 'fiftieth'.
Teacher's tipWhile 'anniversary' usually implies years, modern speakers sometimes use 'month-anniversary' for shorter periods, though this is informal.
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
a date that marks a specific amount of time since an event, even if it is not a full year.
a milestone marking a significant period of time other than a year, usually specified by a prefix.
Simple“They went out for a nice dinner to celebrate their six-month anniversary of dating.”
In context“The startup team marked their one-month anniversary of the product launch by reviewing their initial user growth statistics.”
UsageRequires a time-period modifier, such as 'six-month' or 'one-week'.
Teacher's tipStrictly speaking, the 'anni-' root means year, but learners will encounter 'month-anniversary' in casual dating or workplace contexts.
“Also coming up is the three-year anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October.”
“Saturday marks the 5th anniversary of the current Taliban rule in Aghanistan.”
From Middle English anniversary, from Medieval Latin anniversāria (diēs), anniversārium, from anniversārius (“yearly”), from annus (“year”) + versus, past participle of vertere (“to turn”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.