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perennial

Did you mean: perennial (in botany), Perennial plant

 
Dictionary: per·en·ni·al   (pə-rĕn'ē-əl) pronunciation
adj.
  1. Lasting or active through the year or through many years.
    1. Lasting an indefinitely long time; enduring: perennial happiness.
    2. Appearing again and again; recurrent. See synonyms at continual.
  2. Botany. Living three or more years.
n.
  1. Botany. A perennial plant.
  2. Something that recurs or seems to recur on a yearly or continual basis: "that hardy perennial, the budget deficit" (David S. Broder).

[Latin perennis (per-, throughout; see per- + annus, year) + -AL1.]

perennially per·en'ni·al·ly adv.

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Wordsmith Words: perennial
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(puh-REN-ee-uhl)

adjective
1. Lasting for a long time; perpetual.
2. (of a plant) Living several years.
3. Recurrent.

noun
1. A perennial plant.
2. Something that continues or is recurrent.

Etymology
From Latin perennis (through the year), from per- (throughout) + annus (year). Ultimately from Indo-European root at- (to go) that is also the source of annual, annals, annuity, and anniversary

Usage
"The city is mounting an unprecedented war on the perennial plague." — Brian Bergman; Mosquitoes to Bite it in Winnipeg; Maclean's (Toronto, Canada); May 20, 2002.

"Summer harvests of vegetable and fruit crops are maturing quicker and cropping later, while spring-flowering shrubs, annuals, and perennials are growing faster through the winter and coming into bloom sooner." — Paul Healy; A Warming Welcome; The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania, Australia); Jun 8, 2002.



Any plant that persists for several years, usually with new herbaceous growth from a part that survives from season to season. Trees and shrubs are perennial, as are some herbaceous flowers and vegetative ground covers. Perennials have only a limited flowering period, but, with maintenance throughout the growing season, they provide a leafy presence and shape to the garden landscape. Popular flowering perennials include bellflowers, chrysanthemums, columbines, larkspurs, hollyhocks, phlox, pinks, poppies, and primroses. See also annual, biennial.

For more information on perennial, visit Britannica.com.

Thesaurus: perennial
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adjective

    Existing or remaining in the same state for an indefinitely long time: abiding, continuing, durable, enduring, lasting, long-lasting, long-lived, long-standing, old, perdurable, permanent, persistent. See continue/stop/pause.

Antonyms: perennial
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adj

Definition: enduring, perpetual
Antonyms: changing, intermittent, interrupted


Architecture: perennial
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A plant or shrub whose life cycle is greater than 2 years.


 
Columbia Encyclopedia: perennial
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perennial, any plant that under natural conditions lives for several to many growing seasons, as contrasted to an annual or a biennial. Botanically, the term perennial applies to both woody and herbaceous plants (see stem) and thus includes numerous members of the kingdom. In horticulture, however, the term is usually restricted to hardy herbaceous perennials, particularly border plants such as alyssum, chrysanthemum, iris, peony, phlox, pink, and sedum, all of which characteristically die down to the ground each year and survive the winter on food stored in specialized underground stems (corms, rhizomes, and tubers in horticulture; bulbous plants are not considered perennials). Perennials form seeds each year after reaching maturity, but since plants grown from seeds do not normally bloom until the second season (unless forced), most garden perennials are propagated by dividing the rootstocks (see propagation of plants). In fact, division every few years-as well as judicious pruning-is usually necessary to prevent the plant's becoming straggly and weak. Perennials, including the woody perennials, may have a rest period of some duration during their life cycle. In the plant different parts rest at different times and resume growth independently, e.g., the buds of deciduous plants, which form in late summer and remain dormant until spring. Even in tropical areas where plants appear to retain their leaves the year round, some plants lose all their leaves for a brief period and others grow new and drop old leaves on a continuing basis, as do most conifers.

Bibliography

See R. W. Cumming and R. E. Lee, Contemporary Perennials (1960); J. U. Crockett, Perennials (1972); A. M. Armitage, Herbaceous Perennial Plants (1989); R. R. Clausen and N. H. Ekstrom, Perennials for American Gardens (1989); P. J. Harper, Designing with Perennials (991).


Veterinary Dictionary: perennial
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A plant with a life cycle of more than one year.

  • p. broomweedgutierrezia microcephala.
  • p. pealathyrus latifolius.
  • p. ryegrasslolium perenne.
  • p. snakeweedgutierrhezia microcephala.
  • p. urochloa grassurochloa mozambicensis.
Gardener's Dictionary: perennial
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A plant that lives for a number of years, generally flowering each year. Gardeners often use the term “perennial” to mean herbaceous perennial, but woody plants such as shrubs and trees are also perennial. See also short-lived perennial; herbaceous perennial; woody perennial.

Word Tutor: perennial
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: Continuing though the year or through many years.

pronunciation Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. — from Desiderata

Translations: Perennial
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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - flerårig, varig, uopslidelig
n. - flerårig plante

Nederlands (Dutch)
heel jaar/vele jaren durend, eeuwigdurend, telkens terugkerend, onafgebroken, nooit opdrogend, overblijvend(e plant)

Français (French)
adj. - perpétuel, (Bot) vivace
n. - plante vivace

Deutsch (German)
adj. - immerwährend, ausdauernd
n. - ausdauernde Pflanze

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - αιώνιος, μόνιμος, πολυετής
n. - πολυετές φυτό

Italiano (Italian)
perenne, perpetuo, eterno, pianta perenne

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - perene, permanente, eterno
n. - planta perene (f) (Bot.)

Русский (Russian)
многолетний, многолетнее растение, круглый год

Español (Spanish)
adj. - perenne, eterno, perpetuo
n. - planta perenne

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - ständig, ständigt återkommande, flerårig, perenn, som varar hela året
n. - flerårig växt, eternell, ngt ständigt återkommande

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
四季不断的, 继续多年的, 多年生植物

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 四季不斷的, 繼續多年的
n. - 多年生植物

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 사철을 통한, 장기간 계속하는, 다년생인
n. - 다년생 식물

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 四季を通じての, 永久の, 多年生の, 年中絶えない, 永遠の
n. - 多年生植物, 続くもの

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) دائم, معمر (الاسم) مستمر خلال فصول العام أو السنه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮נמשך כל השנה, נצחי, תמידי, איתן (נחל), נמשך לאורך מספר שנים‬
n. - ‮צמח רב-שנתי‬


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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Architecture. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.  Read more
Gardener's Dictionary. Taylor's Dictionary for Gardeners, by Frances Tenenbaum. Copyright © 1997 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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