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the yearly recurrence of the date of a past event:
the tenth anniversary of their marriage.
the celebration or commemoration of such a date.
.
returning or recurring each year; annual.
pertaining to an anniversary:
an anniversary gift.
Abbreviation: anniv.
Contemporary Examples

On the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion, see how the war played out on newsstands.
10 Years of Iraq in Newsweek Marcia Allert, Michael Keller, Sam Schlinkert March 17, 2013

It is no small irony that the 50th anniversary of Catch-22 should coincide so closely with the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
The Catch in “Catch-22” Morris Dickstein September 3, 2011

Last year, more than 20,000 pilgrims visited for the November anniversary.
Did the Virgin Mary Warn Rwanda’s Holiest Town of the Genocide? Nina Strochlic April 19, 2014

This year, September 13 marks the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords.
On Yom Kippur, Remember My Palestinian Mother Samer Badawi September 9, 2013

It will likely conclude before the 10th anniversary of the show’s May 31, 2000, debut.
Why Survivor’s Still Got It Andy Dehnart February 9, 2010

Historical Examples

Old First Night is the anniversary of the very first meeting, I suppose.
Ethel Morton at Chautauqua Mabell S. C. Smith

Eight years from now America will celebrate its 200th anniversary as a nation.
United States Presidents’ Inaugural Speeches Various

Great preparations are making for the celebration of the Fourth of July, which is the anniversary of the national independence.
Cora and The Doctor Harriette Newell Baker

Read at the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the state of Kansas.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VII (of VII) John Greenleaf Whittier

On such an anniversary he was obviously bound, no matter at what personal inconvenience, to show a like public spirit.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 158, June 9, 1920 Various

noun (pl) -ries
the date on which an event occurred in some previous year: a wedding anniversary
the celebration of this
adjective
of or relating to an anniversary
recurring every year, esp on the same date
n.

early 13c., originally especially of the day of a person’s death, from Medieval Latin anniversarium, from Latin anniversarius (adj.) “returning annually,” from annus (genitive anni) “year” (see annual (adj.)) + versus, past participle of vertere “to turn” (see versus). The adjective came to be used as a noun in Church Latin as anniversaria (dies) in reference to saints’ days. An Old English word for “anniversary” (n.) was mynddæg, literally “mind-day.”