online medical dictionary | definition of anniversary

Returning with the year, at a stated time; annual; yearly; as, an anniversary feast. Anniversary day . See Anniversary. Anniversary week, that week in the year in which the annual meetings of religious and benevolent societies are held in Boston and new York.

Origin: L. Anniversarius; annus year + vertere, versum, to turn: cf. F. Anniversaire.

Origin: Cf. F. Anniversaire.

1. The annual return of the day on which any notable event took place, or is wont to be celebrated; as, the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

2. The day on which Mass is said yearly for the soul of a deceased person; the commemoration of some sacred event, as the dedication of a church or the consecration of a pope.

3. The celebration which takes place on an anniversary day.

(01 Mar 1998)