biennium Latin · revision 9132

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=Plautus|origins=la bis, la annus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [biˈɛn.ni.ũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [biˈɛn.ni.um]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''biennium''' ''n'' (genitive bienniī or biennī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from ⟨bi-⟩ “two” and [[annus]] “year”, formed like ⟨biennis⟩ “lasting two years” with the suffix [[-ium]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lewis & Short and Gaffiot cite Plautus: ''iam biennium est cum'' “it is now two years since”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a period of two years, as in Plautus and Cicero.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ Bede and other British Medieval Latin writers used it for a two-year period.^(DMLBS) English took [[m|en|biennium]] in 1835; [[en|millennium]] was formed on its model.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1835 – English ''biennium'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A period of two years.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[biennālis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[annus]]

+ * [[biennis]]

+ * [[triennium]]

+ * [[en|biennium]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}