perennial means lasting or remaining active throughout the year, for multiple years, or all the time.
perennial is pronounced /pəˈɹɛn.ɪ.əl/.
Why “perennial” is a great word
Lasting or active throughout the entire year or for many years; enduring or continually recurring. From Latin perennis ("lasting through the year, perpetual"), from per- ("through") + annus ("year"), first recorded in English 1635–45. Unlike "annual," which completes its cycle in a single turn of the seasons, or "perpetual," which suggests an unbroken, abstract eternity, perennial speaks of resilience through measured, repeated time. It is the stubborn rootstock sleeping under frost, the creek that never fully dries, and the argument that resurfaces at every family gathering—a quiet testament to things that know how to wait out the winter.
Etymology
The adjective is borrowed from Latin perennis (“lasting through the whole year or for several years, perennial; continual, everlasting, perpetual”) + English -al (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Perennis is derived from per- (“completive or intensifying prefix with the sense of doing something all the way through or entirely”) + annus (“year; season, time”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂et- (“to go”)). By surface analysis, per- + -ennial.
The noun is derived from the adjective.
Cognates
* Middle French pérenne (modern French pérenne (“lasting through the whole year, perennial”))
* Italian perenne (“lasting for a long time”)
* Spanish perenne (“eternal; permanent; a perennial plant”)
adj
- Lasting or remaining active throughout the year, for multiple years, or all the time.e.g.“a perennial stream”
- Continuing without cessation or intermission for several years, or for an undetermined or infinite period; never-ending or never failing; perpetual, unceasing.e.g.“His artwork has a perennial beauty.”
- Appearing or recurring again and again; recurrent.e.g.“a perennial candidate in elections”
- Appearing or recurring again and again; recurrent.; Appearing again each year; annual.
- Of a plant: active throughout the year, or having a life cycle of more than two growing seasons.
noun
- A plant that is active throughout the year, or has a life cycle of more than two growing seasons.
- A thing that lasts forever.
- A person or thing (such as a problem) that appears or returns regularly.e.g.“Some of the stars on our list are perennials who fill huge venues year after year after year, but there's also a returning superstar on our list of the hottest summer tours of 2019.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.