What does bicentenary mean?
Word: Bicentenary
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Bicentenary means the day or year that falls exactly two hundred years after an important event, and the celebrations held to mark it.
Word origin: Formed from Latin parts: the prefix bi- and a word built on centum, the Latin for a hundred.
How do you spell bicentenary?
Syllables: bi - cen - te - na - ry
Tricky part: The s sound straight after bi is spelt with a c, never an s, so bisentenary is a common slip.
Watch out for: bisentenary, bysentenary
Memory tip: Think of century: it lends this word the c that comes straight after bi.
Bicentenary in a sentence
Example 1: Our city's oldest library will mark its bicentenary next year with a book fair and free reading sessions.
Example 2: To celebrate the college's bicentenary, the students planted two hundred saplings around the campus.
Example 3: Dadi still keeps the souvenir mug from the bicentenary of the old railway bridge in her home town.
Fun Fact
In 2009 scientists and schools around the world marked the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin, who was born in 1809.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Champ
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
bicente______
a) nery
b) nory
c) nary
d) nury
Show answer
c) nary. The word finishes the way dictionary and library do.
Word Twins
Choose the correct option to fill both blanks:
1. Our school opened in 1926, so in 2026 it held a week of events for its ___. 2. The town hall was built in 1826, and in 2026 the whole town turned out for its ___.
a) 'centenary' in both
b) 'bicentenary' in both
c) bicentenary/centenary
d) centenary/bicentenary
Show answer
d) centenary/bicentenary. From 1926 to 2026 is one hundred years, a centenary, while the town hall had stood for two hundred, a bicentenary.
Spell Probe
Choose the meaning of the misspelt word in the given sentence:
For the bicentinary of the lighthouse, the harbour board hung coloured lanterns along the pier and invited every family in the village.
a) a celebration marking twenty decades since something began
b) a tall tower with a bright light that guides ships
c) a group of people who manage something together
d) a long platform built out over the sea
Show answer
a) a celebration marking twenty decades since something began. The vowel after the t is an e, the same e you meet in centenary.
Sound Check
In which word is 'bi' pronounced differently?
a) biscuit
b) bicentenary
c) biceps
d) bisect
Show answer
a) biscuit. Biscuit opens with the short vowel of bit; the rest open with the sound of the word by.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A bridge opened in 1871 would have its bicentenary in ___.
a) 1971
b) 2021
c) 2071
d) 2171
Show answer
c) 2071
2. The bi in bicentenary has the same meaning as the bi in ___.
a) bicycle
b) bind
c) bitter
d) bishop
Show answer
a) bicycle
