anniversary English · revision 4777

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1230|origins=la anniversarius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˌæn.ɪˈvɜː.sər.i/, US /ˌæn.ɪˈvɝː.sər.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|anniversarie]], through [[xno|anniversarie]],^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la-med|anniversārium]], a noun use of Latin [[m|la|anniversārius|t=returning yearly]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from annus “year” and versus, the past participle of vertere “to turn”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) from [[ine-pro|*wer-|t=to turn, bend]].^(Etymonline) In Church Latin the adjective was used as a noun in anniversāria diēs “anniversary day” for saints' days.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) It is related to [[annual]], [[verse]] and [[version]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The yearly return of the date of an event, originally especially of a person's death or a saint's martyrdom: probably before 1200 in Barnhart, in the Ancrene Riwle;^(Barnhart 1988) about 1200 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) about 1230 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The celebration on such a date, originally a mass said yearly for the soul of a dead person, is from 1447.^(OED 1989) The adjective, returning every year, is from the mid-15th century in Etymonline and 1552 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Old English had a native word for an anniversary, mynddæg, literally “mind-day”.^(Etymonline) The modern use for wedding anniversaries and the anniversaries of historical events grew from this sense of a yearly commemoration.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a. 1200 – the yearly return of a date.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1447 – a yearly celebration or mass.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1552 – adjective, yearly.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1861 – verb, to celebrate an anniversary.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The date on which an event happened in an earlier [[year]], especially a wedding.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The [[celebration]] of such a date.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or relating to an anniversary.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[annual]]

+ * [[verse]]

+ * [[version]]

+ * [[annals]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}