# perennial

> English word · Adjective · IPA /pəˈɹɛn.ɪ.əl/ · frequency rank #14,807

## Definitions
1. Lasting or remaining active throughout the year, for multiple years, or all the time.
2. Continuing without cessation or intermission for several years, or for an undetermined or infinite period; never-ending or never failing; perpetual, unceasing.
3. Appearing or recurring again and again; recurrent.
4. Appearing or recurring again and again; recurrent.
5. Of a plant: active throughout the year, or having a life cycle of more than two growing seasons.

## 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”)

## Common misspellings (11)
`eprennial`, `peernnial`, `perenial`, `pereninal`, `perennail`, `perenniall`, `perennila`, `pernenial`, `perrennial`, `pperennial`, `preennial`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/perennial