# annual

Pronunciation: say "AN-yoo-uhl" /ˈæn.ju.əl/

## Adjective

1. Occurring once each year, typically as part of a regular recurring cycle.
   - Simple: Taking place one time each year.
   - _The company publishes an annual report summarizing its finances._
   - _Migratory birds make their annual journey south before winter sets in._
2. Relating to or measured over the course of a whole year; reckoned or accumulated by the year.
   - Simple: Covering or measured over a whole year.
   - _The company reported strong annual revenue for the past fiscal year._
   - _Economists closely track the annual growth rate of the economy._
4. Living or lasting for only one year or season; of a plant, completing its whole life cycle within one growing season.
   - Simple: Living for only one year or season, like a plant that grows, flowers, and dies in the same year.
   - _Gardeners often choose annual species for quick, colorful displays each summer._
   - _Unlike perennials, annual crops grow, flower, and die within one season._

## Noun

3. A publication issued once a year, such as a book, report, yearbook, or comic.
   - Simple: A book or magazine that comes out one time each year.
   - _The astronomy society publishes an annual filled with the coming year's star charts._
   - _Children eagerly awaited the Christmas annual packed with comic strips and puzzles._
5. A plant that germinates, flowers, and dies within a single growing season.
   - Simple: A plant that lives for just one growing season.
   - _Gardeners replant annuals each spring to keep the borders colorful._
   - _Because the zinnia is an annual, she has to sow fresh seed every spring to get another summer of flowers._
6. A routine medical checkup that takes place once a year. *(colloquial, US)*
   - Simple: A health checkup that you have one time each year.
   - _He booked his annual to have his blood pressure and cholesterol checked._
   - _Many people use their annual to catch health problems early._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A pantomime that is performed once a year.

## Origin

Late Latin annuālis, related to Latin annālis, the adjective from annus ("year"), was borrowed into English, where it is first recorded around 1382. Plants have been described with it since at least 1629.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/annual (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).