perennial Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun (botany) a plant lasting for three seasons or more
  2. adjective lasting three seasons or more
    • the common buttercup is a popular perennial plant
  3. adjective satellite lasting an indefinitely long time; suggesting self-renewal
    • perennial happiness
  4. adjective satellite recurring again and again
    repeated; recurrent.
    • perennial efforts to stipulate the requirements

WordNet

Per*en"ni*al adjective
Etymology
L. perennis that lasts the whole year through; per through + annus year. See Per-, and Annual.
Definitions
  1. ing or continuing through the year; as, perennial fountains.
  2. Continuing without cessation or intermission; perpetual; unceasing; never failing.
    The perennial existence of bodies corporate. Burke.
  3. (Bot.) Continuing more than two years; as, a perennial steam, or root, or plant. Syn. -- Perpetual; unceasing; never failing; enduring; continual; permanent; uninterrupted.
Per*en"ni*al noun
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) A perennial plant; a plant which lives or continues more than two years, whether it retains its leaves in winter or not.

Webster 1913