It's the Word of the Day podcast for October 16th.

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That's audible.com.com. UKoundary. Today's word is biannual, spelled B-I-N-N-N-U-A-L.

B-A-N-U-A-L. It's used to describe something that happens twice a year or something that happens

every two years. Biannual is always used before the noun

it describes. Here's the word used in a sentence from Southern Living. About 200 miles of trails

make up the Alabama coastal birding trail along Alabama's Gulf Coast. These comprehensive trails

span both Baldwin and Mobile counties following the coastline wetlands and backwaters, all crucial stopover habitats for migratory birds.

Visit in the fall or spring to see part of the beautiful biannual journey for yourself.

When we describe something as biannual, we can mean either that it occurs twice a year

or that it occurs once every two years. So how does someone know which particular meaning we have in

mind? Well, unless we provide them with a contextual clue, they don't. Some people prefer to use the word semi-annual to refer to something that

occurs twice a year, reserving biannual for things that occur once every two years. This practice

is hardly universal among English speakers, however, and biannual remains a potentially ambiguous word.

Fortunately, English also provides us with biannial,

a word that specifically refers to something that occurs every two years or that lasts or continues

for two years. With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.

Visit miriamwebster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups.