# perennial

Pronunciation: US say "puh-REN-yuhl" /pəˈɹɛn.j(ə)l/; UK say "puh-REN-ee-uhl" /pəˈɹɛn.ɪ.əl/

## Adjective

1. Of a plant, living for more than two years, often dying back in winter and regrowing from surviving roots or stems.
   - Simple: Of a plant, living for more than two years and usually growing back every spring.
   - _Perennial grasses keep their roots alive through the winter and regrow in spring._
   - _Asparagus is a perennial crop that can keep producing for many years._
3. Happening, appearing, or coming up again and again, often year after year, so that it seems constant.
   - Simple: Happening again and again, often every year, so it seems it will never stop.
   - _Traffic is a perennial complaint at city council meetings._
   - _She was a perennial candidate who ran for mayor in every election and never won._
4. Lasting or staying active through the whole year, for many years, or continually without end.
   - Simple: Lasting all year, for many years, or all the time.
   - _Unlike the dry washes around it, the creek is perennial and flows all year._
   - _The highest peaks are capped with perennial snow that never fully melts._

## Noun

2. A plant that lives for more than two years, often regrowing each season from roots or other parts that survive.
   - Simple: A plant that lives for more than two years and grows back again each year.
   - _The border mixes shrubs with long-blooming perennials such as coneflowers and asters._
   - _A hardy perennial will survive the winter and send up new shoots in spring._
5. Something or someone that keeps recurring or endures for a long time, such as a regular performer, favorite, or problem.
   - Simple: A person or thing that keeps coming back or stays around for a very long time.
   - _The group is a festival perennial, booked for the main stage summer after summer._
   - _Complaints about parking are perennials at every neighborhood meeting._

## Origin

The adjective joins -al to Latin perennis, meaning "continual, everlasting, perpetual" and "lasting all year or for several years." Perennis itself combines per- ("all the way through, entirely") and annus ("year, season, time"), which may go back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂et- ("to go"). On the surface it can be read as per- + -ennial. The noun comes from the adjective, and French pérenne, Italian perenne and Spanish perenne are related.

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