anniversary

& s. [In Fr. anniversaire; Sp. an i vers a rio; Port. & Ital. anniver sario. From Lat. ann i ver sari us = yearly, annual; ann i = of the year, gen it. of ann us =the year, and versum, supine of ver to = to turn.] • A. As adjective: *1. Performed in a year. "The heaven whirled about with admirable celerity, most constantly finishing its anniversary vici itudes."-Ray 2. Recurring once a year at a stated time; annual, yearly. Anniversary services: Services held on annually recurring days to commemorate certain occurrences which happened on those days, or are a ociated with them. Most congregations of recent origin have an anniversary service to commemorate the day on which their church was opened. The name is le frequently applied to Good Friday, Christmas Day, and similar Christian festivals. B. As substantive: I. Ordinary Language: 1. An annually recurring day on which some notable event in ecclesiastical, in national, in local, or in personal history took place, or is wont to be celebrated. the memory of the rout at Allia, kept alive by a a solemn solemn an anniversary, was fresh esh in the the minds of the people."-Lewis: Early Rom. Hist., ch. xiii, pt. 1, § 13. "That day was the anniversary both of William's birth and of his marriage." -Macaulay : Hist. Eng., ch. ix. rose. "It was near nine in the evening before the House The following day was the 30th of January, the anniversary of the death of Charles I."- Ibid ., ch. x. 2. The celebration which takes place at such annually recurring periods. "Donne had never seen Mrs. Drury, whom he has made immortal in his admirable anniversaries."Dryden. II. Technically. In the Church of Rome: An office for the souls of certain deceased persons, which is celebrated once a year, but which, it is held, ought to be so daily. ( Ayliffe : Parergon .) * ăn'-ni-verse, s . [Lat. ann i, gen it. of an nus a year, and versus = turning; ver to = to turn. The turning of a year.] An anniver IMG:content-0552.png:[blocks in formation] Anno Mundi. In the year of the world. (Usually written A.M. ) Since Geology has proved the earth to have existed infinitely longer than was once believed, the expre ion Anno Mundi , in the old sense, has become obsolete. The dates which it furnishes are now known not to have even approximated to the truth.