What does "perennial" mean?

Perennial: Continuing without cessation or intermission; perpetual; unceasing; never failing. The perennial existence of bodies corporate. Burke.

Additional senses

  1. 2.(Bot.) Continuing more than two years; as, a perennial steam, or root, or plant.
  2. 3.A perennial plant; a plant which lives or continues more than two years, whether it retains its leaves in winter or not.

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