ANNUAL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does annual mean? 

• ANNUAL (noun)
  The noun ANNUAL has 2 senses:

1. (botany) a plant that completes its entire life cycle within the space of a year

2. a reference book that is published regularly once every year

  Familiarity information: ANNUAL used as a noun is rare.

• ANNUAL (adjective)
  The adjective ANNUAL has 2 senses:

1. completing its life cycle within a year

2. occurring or payable every year

  Familiarity information: ANNUAL used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ANNUAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(botany) a plant that completes its entire life cycle within the space of a year

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("annual" is a kind of...):

flora; plant; plant life ((botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion)

Domain category:

botany; phytology (the branch of biology that studies plants)

Derivation:

annual (completing its life cycle within a year)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A reference book that is published regularly once every year

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

annual; yearbook; yearly

Hypernyms ("annual" is a kind of...):

book of facts; reference; reference book; reference work (a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "annual"):

almanac (an annual publication containing tabular information in a particular field or fields arranged according to the calendar of a given year)

almanac; farmer's calendar (an annual publication including weather forecasts and other miscellaneous information arranged according to the calendar of a given year)

ephemeris (an annual publication containing astronomical tables that give the positions of the celestial bodies throughout the year)

• ANNUAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Completing its life cycle within a year

Synonyms:

annual; one-year

Context example:

a border of annual flowering plants

Domain category:

botany; phytology (the branch of biology that studies plants)

Antonym:

biennial (having a life cycle lasting two seasons)

perennial (lasting three seasons or more)

Derivation:

annual ((botany) a plant that completes its entire life cycle within the space of a year)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Occurring or payable every year

Synonyms:

annual; yearly

Context example:

annual (or yearly) income

Similar:

periodic; periodical (happening or recurring at regular intervals)

 Context examples 

The annual growth rate of atmospheric CO2 measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii jumped 3.05 ppm during 2015, the largest year-to-year increase in 56 years of monitoring.

(South Pole is last place on Earth to pass global warming milestone, NOAA)

The Annual Greenhouse Gas Index is a measure of the annual change in the warming influence of greenhouse gases.

(Warming due to carbon dioxide jumped by half in 25 years, NOAA)

Deserts are defined by low average annual rainfall — usually 100 millimeters (less than 4 inches) of rain per year or less.

(New study finds world’s largest desert, the Sahara, has grown by 10 percent since 1920, National Science Foundation)

Tomatoes are one of the most eaten vegetables—although they actually are fruit botanically—with a worldwide annual production of 182 million tons, worth more than $60 billion.

(Tomato Pan-Genome Makes Bringing Flavor Back Easier, Agricultural Research Service)

Earlier annual snowmelt periods may hinder the ability of forests to regulate atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2).

(Earlier snowmelt decreases streamflow, reduces forests' ability to regulate atmospheric carbon dioxide, NSF)

Tree rings are as distinctive as fingerprints: the width, density and anatomy of each annual ring contains information about what the climate was like during that particular year.

(Amount of carbon stored in forests reduced as climate warms, University of Cambridge)

The team also imaged the secondary cell walls of Arabidopsis thaliana, an annual plant widely used as the standard reference plant for genetics and molecular biology research.

(Revealing the nanostructure of wood could help raise height limits for wooden skyscrapers, University of Cambridge)

Similarly, vaccines designed to elicit antibodies against this target might provide long-lasting protection against any influenza strain, potentially eliminating the need for annual seasonal influenza vaccination.

(Human antibody reveals hidden vulnerability in influenza virus, National Institutes of Health)

The Datura genus comprises 14 plant species and hybrids, the majority of which are herbaceous annuals or shrubs.

(Scientists examine the ethnobotanical uses of stramonium, University of Granada)

The annual dead zone measurement is used by the Gulf of Mexico/Mississippi River Watershed Nutrient Task Force to determine whether efforts to reduce nutrient pollution in the Mississippi River basin are working.

(Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ is the largest ever measured, NOAA)