Date of an event from a previous year and the observance of this milestone
Swedish celebrities including
Miss Sweden
Johanna Lind
,
Camilla Henemark
,
Alexandra Charles
and
Christina Schollin
celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of
Mae West
at
Berns
in Stockholm in 1993
Memorial plaque presented by the National Capital Sesquicentennial Commission in Washington, D.C. in 1951
An
anniversary
is the date on which an event took place or an
institution
was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for
Catholic
feasts to commemorate
saints
.
Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called
national days
. These could be the
date of independence
of the nation or the adoption of a new
constitution
or form of government. There is no definite method for determining the date of establishment of an institution, and it is generally decided within the institution by
convention
. The important dates in a sitting monarch's reign may also be commemorated, an event often referred to as a "jubilee".
Names
[
edit
]
The
Latin
phrase
dies natalis
(literally "birth day") has become a common term, adopted in many languages, especially in intellectual and institutional circles, for the anniversary of the founding ("legal or statutory birth") of an institution, such as an
alma mater
(college or other school). In ancient Rome, the
[dies] Aquilae natalis
was the "birthday of the eagle", the anniversary of the official founding of a legion.
Anniversaries of nations are usually marked by the number of years elapsed, expressed with
Latin words
or
Roman numerals
.
Numerical
[
edit
]
Latin terms for anniversaries are mostly straightforward, particularly those relating to the first thirty years (1?30), or multiples of ten years (30, 40, 50, 60, 70 etc.), or multiples of centuries or millenniums (100, 200, 300, 1000, 2000, 3000, etc.). In these instances, the name of the anniversary is generally derived from the Latin word(s) for the respective number of years. When anniversaries relate to fractions of centuries (125, 150, 175, 225, 250, 275 years?i.e. 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, 2.25, 2.5, and 2.75 centuries), the situation is not as simple.
Roman fractions
were based on a
duodecimal system
. From
1
⁄
12
to
8
⁄
12
they were expressed as multiples of twelfths (
uncia
"twelfth"; the source of the English words
inch
and
ounce
) and from
9
⁄
12
to
11
⁄
12
they were expressed as multiple twelfths less than the next whole unit?i.e. a whole unit less
3
⁄
12
,
2
⁄
12
or
1
⁄
12
respectively. There were also special terms for quarter (
quadrans
), half (
semis
), and three-quarters (
dodrans
).
Dodrans
is a Latin contraction of
de-quadrans
which means "a whole unit less a quarter" (
de
means "from";
quadrans
means "quarter"). Thus for the example of 175 years, the term is a quarter century less than the next whole (bi)century or 175 = (?25 + 200).
[1]
In Latin, it seems that this rule did not apply precisely for
1
+
1
⁄
2
. While
secundus
is Latin for "second", and
bis
for "twice", these terms are not used such as in sesqui-secundus. Instead
sesqui
(or
ses
) is used by itself.
Anniversary
|
Latin-derived term
|
Other terms
|
Comments
|
6 months
|
Semiannual
|
|
'Biannual' means twice in a year, or a
malapropism
meaning once every two years ('biennial').
|
Biannual
|
1 year
|
Annual
|
Paper
|
|
2 years
|
Biennial
|
Cotton
|
'Biennial' means once every two years, or a malapropism meaning twice in a year ('biannual').
|
3 years
|
Triennial
|
Leather
|
|
4 years
|
Quadrennial
|
Linen
|
|
5 years
|
Quinquennial
|
Wood
|
|
6 years
|
Sexennial, Sextennial
|
Iron
|
Sexennial and sextennial are two different forms of the same word.
|
7 years
|
Septennial
|
Wool
|
|
8 years
|
Octennial
|
Bronze
|
|
9 years
|
Novennial
|
Copper
|
|
10 years
|
Decennial
|
Tin
Aluminum
|
|
Denary
|
11 years
|
Undecennial
|
Steel
|
|
12 years
|
Duodecennial
|
Silk
|
|
12
1
⁄
2
years
|
|
Parsley
|
A humorous or mock wedding anniversary celebrated in Germany and the Netherlands where everyone needs to wear something green
[
citation needed
]
|
13 years
|
Tredecennial
|
Lace
|
|
14 years
|
Quattuordecennial
|
Ivory
|
|
15 years
|
Quindecennial
|
Crystal
|
|
16 years
|
Sexdecennial
|
Sapphire
|
Sapphire is separately used for other anniversaries
|
17 years
|
Septdecennial
|
Orchid
|
|
18 years
|
Octdecennial
|
Quartz
|
|
19 years
|
Novdecennial
|
Jade
|
|
20 years
|
Vigintennial
|
China/Porcelain/emerald
|
|
Vicennial
|
Vicenary
|
Bidecennial
|
25 years
|
Quadranscentennial
|
Silver
|
|
30 years
|
Tricennial
|
Pearl
|
|
Tricenary
|
35 years
|
Quintricennial
|
Coral
|
|
40 years
|
Quadragennial
|
Ruby
|
|
Quadragenary
|
45 years
|
Quinquadragennial
|
Sapphire
|
|
50 years
|
Semicentennial
|
Golden
|
Previously, "jubilee" by itself was used to indicate celebrations at 50 year intervals
|
Quinquagenary
|
55 years
|
Quinquinquagennial
|
Emerald
|
|
Quinquinquagenary
|
60 years
|
Sexagennial
|
Diamond
|
Diamond is separately used for the 75th anniversary, its use for 60th years being popularized by
Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria
|
Sexagenary
|
65 years
|
Quinsexagennial
|
Sapphire
|
Sapphire is separately used for other anniversaries
|
70 years
|
Septuagennial
|
Platinum
|
|
Septuagenary
|
75 years
|
Semisesquicentennial
|
Diamond
|
Diamond is separately used for the 60th anniversary. Semisesquicentennial can be broken down to understand its meaning: "semi" - half of + "sesqui" - in the ratio of 3:2 + "centennial" - 100 years. Broken out mathematically, 1/2 * 3/2 * 100 = 75.
|
Demisesquicentennial
|
80 years
|
Octogintennial
|
Oak
|
|
Octogenary
|
90 years
|
Nonagintennial
|
Granite
|
|
Nonagenary
|
100 years
|
Centennial
|
Obsidian
|
|
Centenary
|
125 years
|
Quasquicentennial
|
|
Term is broken down as quasqui- (and a quarter) centennial (100 years).
Quasqui
is a contraction from
quadrans
"a quarter" plus the clitic conjunction -
que
"and". The term was coined by Funk and Wagnalls editor
Robert L. Chapman
in 1961.
[2]
|
150 years
|
Sesquicentennial
|
|
Term broken down as sesqui- (one and a half) centennial (100 years)
|
175 years
|
Dodransbicentennial
|
|
Dodrans
is a Latin contraction of
de-quadrans
which means "a whole unit less a quarter" (
de
means "from";
quadrans
means "quarter"). 175 years is a quarter century less than the next whole (bi)century (175 = 200 ? 25).
[1]
|
Dodrabicentennial
|
Alternative Latin form of Dodransbicentennial
|
Dequasbicentennial
|
Alternative Latin form of Dodransbicentennial
|
Dosquicentennial
|
Dosquicentennial has been used in modern times and this is perhaps a modern contraction of "de-quadrans".
[1]
|
Demisemiseptcentennial
|
Probably
[
attribution needed
]
a modern coined term: demisemiseptcentennial; literally one-half (demi-) × one-half (semi-) × seven (sept-) × 100 years (centennial)?also demisemiseptcentenary.
[3]
[4]
|
Quartoseptcentennial
|
Probably
[
attribution needed
]
a modern coined term: quartoseptcentennial; literally one-quarter (quarto-) × seven (sept-) × 100 years (centennial)?also quartoseptcentenary.
[3]
|
Terquasquicentennial
|
A coined word for an anniversary of 175 years, but the elements of the word literally refer to an anniversary of 375 years, as follows: ter- (3) × quasqui- (1
1
⁄
4
) × centennial (100 years)
|
Septaquintaquinquecentennial
|
Suggested by lexicographer
Robert L. Chapman
to
William Safire
; first appeared in Safire's column, "On Language" (
The New York Times Magazine
, February 12, 1995). It is a coined word for an anniversary of 175 years, but the elements of the word literally refer to an anniversary of 35,000 years, as follows: septaquinta- (70) × quinque- (5) × centennial (100 years)
|
200 years
|
Bicentennial
|
|
|
Bicentenary
|
225 years
|
Quasquibicentennial
|
|
|
250 years
|
Sestercentennial
|
|
To express
2
+
1
⁄
2
in Latin it would be expressed as "half-three". The term relates to being halfway [from the second] to the third integer. In Latin this is "
Sestertius
", which is a contraction of
semis
(halfway)
tertius
(third)?hence Sestercentennial.
[1]
|
Semiquincentennial
|
Probably
[
attribution needed
]
a modern coined term: semi- (half) × quin (5) × centennial (100 years) = 250 years. Used by
Brown University
in 2015.
[5]
|
Bicenquinquagenary
|
Used by
Princeton University
in 1996,
Reading, Pennsylvania
in 1998, and
Washington and Lee University
in 1999.
[6]
It is a coined word for an anniversary of 250 years: bi- (2) × cen(t)- (100) + quinquagenary (50 years).
|
Quarter-millennial
|
[7]
|
275 years
|
Bicenterquasquigenary
|
|
300 years
|
Tercentennial
|
|
|
Tercentenary
|
Tricentennial
|
Tricentenary
|
350 years
|
Sesquarcentennial
|
|
Sesquarcentennial is a modern coined term; sesquarcentennial for 350 years is deduced here from the "
Sestertius
" definition for 250 years above. For 350 years it relates to being halfway from the third to the fourth integer; thus a contraction of
semis
(halfway) and
quartus
(fourth); hence Sesquarcentennial. Semiseptcennial is probably
[
attribution needed
]
a modern coined term: semi- (half) × sept (7) × cen(t)- (100) × centennial (350 years).
|
Semiseptcentennial
|
375 years
|
Terquasquicentennial
|
|
400 years
|
Quadricentennial
|
|
|
Quadricentenary
|
Quatercentenary
|
450 years
|
Sesquincentennial
|
|
|
500 years
|
Quincentenary
|
|
|
Quincentennial
|
600 years
|
Sexacentennial
|
|
|
Sexcentenary
|
700 years
|
Septcentennial
|
|
Probably
[
attribution needed
]
a coined term; earliest known use in March 1988.
[8]
Chiang Mai Septcentennial Stadium
(
Chiang Mai
,
Thailand
) was completed in 1991.
[9]
|
Septuacentennial
|
800 years
|
Octocentennial
|
|
|
Octocentenary
|
900 years
|
Nonacentennial
|
|
|
1000 years
|
Millennial
|
|
|
1500 years
|
Sesquimillennial
|
|
Term broken down as sesqui- (one and a half) millennial (1000 years)
|
2000 years
|
Bimillennial
|
|
|
3000 years
|
Trimillennial
|
|
|
4000 years
|
Quadrimillennial
|
|
|
5000 years
|
Quinmillennial
|
|
|
6000 years
|
Sexmillennial
|
|
|
7000 years
|
Septmillennial
|
|
|
8000 years
|
Octomillennial
|
|
|
9000 years
|
Novamillennial
|
|
|
10,000 years
|
Decamillennial
|
|
|
100,000 years
|
Centamillennial
|
|
|
Symbols
[
edit
]
Many anniversaries have special names.
Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home
by
Emily Post
, published in 1922, contained suggestions for wedding anniversary gifts for 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, and 75 years.
[10]
Wedding anniversary gift suggestions for other years were added in later editions and publications; they now comprise what is referred to as the "traditional" list. Generally speaking, the longer the period, the more precious or durable the material associated with it.
There are variations according to some national traditions. There exist numerous partially overlapping, partially contradictory lists of anniversary gifts (such as wedding stones), separate from the "traditional" names.
The concepts of a person's
birthday stone
and zodiac stone, by contrast, are fixed for life according to the day of the week, month, or astrological sign corresponding to the recipient's
birthday
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
"SA 175th Jubilee"
. Clipper Ship 'City of Adelaide'. Archived from
the original
on 27 November 2013
. Retrieved
March 8,
2011
.
So the name for a 175th anniversary? For now it is really up to the preference of the reader. One day one of these terms may make its way into popular usage, become accepted, and find a place in a dictionary.
- ^
Chapman, Robert L. (February 1965). "The History of "Quasquicentennial"
".
American Speech
.
40
(1): 53?57.
doi
:
10.2307/454178
.
ISSN
0003-1283
.
JSTOR
454178
.
It is our policy to reply as courteously and helpfully as we can to such requests, and I answered Mr. Hatten on August 7, suggesting quasquicentennial. Since this is a history, I shall quote the letter in full: Dr. Wilfred Funk has passed your letter of July I on to us. We are happy to help, if you feel that you really want a new Latinate word meaning "one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary". The best model upon which to form the word is "sesquicentennial", meaning "one hundred and fiftieth anniversary". We need a first element meaning "plus a fourth", analogous with "sesqui" which means "plus a half". "Sesqui" is apparently formed from "semis que", meaning "and a half". Now, both "quarta" and "quadrans" mean "a fourth", so we may begin with either "quarta que" or "quadrans que". The trick is to combine and shorten one of these as "sesqui" was combined and shortened from "semis que". If we follow the model of "sesqui" very closely, retaining the stressed vowel and final "s" of "quadrans", we get the word "quasquicentennial". Combining and shortening in other ways we can also get "quadqui-", "quansqui-", "quarsqui-", and perhaps several others. On the grounds that it is closest to the model and also probably the least ugly of the set, I would choose "quasquicentennial" (pronounced kwahskwee-) as the new word. Of course, you may decide that you do not really want or need a new word. There is no point in proliferating them needlessly. I should add, perhaps, that this word would not appear in any of our dictionaries until it had established itself in wide currency, even if you should decide to use it. I hope we have been able to help you.
- ^
a
b
"Under the Cupola".
Neighbors of Batavia
. July?August 2008. p. 29.
The etymology of "demisemiseptcentennial" is compared to "hemidemisemiquaver", a 64th note.
- ^
"Pickle Barrel: 175th-birthday bash planned for Dillsburg."
The Patriot-News
(Mechanicsburg, Penn.), Wednesday, 18 June 2008.
- ^
"Brown lowers the curtain on 15-month semiquincentenary"
. Brown University. 2015-06-11
. Retrieved
2015-06-11
.
- ^
McCleery, William (November 19, 1997).
"The Meaning of the 250th"
.
Princeton Alumni Weekly
. Princeton University
. Retrieved
March 23,
2011
.
Faster, it seems, than you can say "bicenquinquagenary", Princeton's 250th anniversary has come and gone.
- ^
"A Memorial of the Celebration of the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Settlement of the Town of Northampton, Massachusetts"
. City of Northampton. Archived from
the original
on January 27, 2013
. Retrieved
March 23,
2011
.
- ^
Kersten, Glenn (March 1988).
"Naming the Anniversaries"
.
Quidnunc
. Archived from
the original
on 21 January 2005
. Retrieved
22 May
2019
.
- ^
Architects 49: Selected and Current Work
. (The Master Architect Series; 5.) Image Publishing Group, 2006.
ISBN
978-1-876907-09-9
- ^
"22. The Day of the Wedding. Post, Emily. 1922. Etiquette"
.
bartleby.com
. 3 March 2023.
External links
[
edit
]