Anniversaries

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌænɪˈvɜːs(ə)ɹiz/

Definitions

1. Celebratory occasions that recognize the yearly recurrence of notable events
2. Significant yearly remembrances honoring the time elapsed since important happenings
3. Days marking the yearly return of significant past events, often observed with ceremonies or celebrations

Etymology: "Anniversary" comes from Latin "annus" ("year") joined with "vertere" ("to turn"), in the form "anniversarius," meaning "returning yearly." The idea is a date that comes back around each year, and the Latin adjective was the source of the Old French "anniversaire," which passed into Anglo-Norman and then Middle English. The word's original sense is more literal than its modern use. The Latin adjective described something recurring every year, and medieval Latin also used it as a noun for the yearly commemoration of a death, often a religious observance for the departed. The English word inherited that sense of a yearly return before it settled into the common meaning of a date marking a past event. "Anniversaries" is simply the plural of this noun, so it refers to several such yearly dates at once.

Synonyms: celebrations, commemorations, observances, remembrances, dedications