If ten years is called a decade, and one hundred years is called a century, what do you call 25 years?
What Is A Period Of 25 Years Called?
Whilst there is no official term for a period of 25 years, there are several unofficial names such as quarter-century, silver jubilee, and quadranscentennial. Or, you could just say “25 years”. It is not like periods of ten or one hundred years, which are called “decade” and “century”.
But when is the right time to use words?
Periods With Well-known Names
Before we get onto that, let’s just take a moment to look at some of the periods that do have official names.
Of course, once every ten years, we enter a new decade.
And, every one hundred years is known as a century. Did you know that “cent” is Latin for 100? That’s why 1/100th of a dollar is called a cent.
The word “millennium” might be a bit odd to some. Because it sounds like it means a million years, in reality, it only means one thousand.
What To Say Instead Of “It’s Been 25 Years Since An Event”
Use Terms Like “25 Years” Or “Quarter Century”
Let’s say that 25 years ago, something happened. Maybe it was the first time you bought a newspaper or the day you first went into a new country.
The most common way to express this is by saying “It’s been 25 years since that happened”. However, one potential alternative could be to say “It’s been a quarter century since that happened”.
You don’t need a degree in mathematics to figure out that a quarter is divided by four. And 100 (century) divided by four is 25.
Usually, we would use “quarter century” to talk about something that was about 25 years ago, and “25 years” to talk about things exactly 25 years ago.
4 Examples Of “25 Years” And “Quarter Century”
- “It’s been 25 years since I last stepped foot in that house”
- “It’s been a quarter century since I last played polo”
- “I haven’t done that in 25 years”
- “I did that a quarter century ago”
What To Say Instead Of “This Happens Every 25 Years”
Use The Term “Quadranscentennial”
An event that occurs once a month is monthly. An event that occurs once a year is yearly. And an event that occurs once every 25 years is known as quadranscentennial. The reason why you probably won’t hear this word a lot is that it’s easier to just say “every 25 years” or even “four times a century”.
3 Examples Of “Quadranscentennial”
- “This event is quadranscentennial, so be sure to stay alive until then”
- “We thought it would be quadranscentennial. But it happens every decade”
- “The quadranscentennial event was cancelled due to Covid”
About The Etymology Of “quadranscentennial”
The word “quadranscentennial” is so interesting, we couldn’t help but try to pick it apart. Its origins come from Latin.
The word “quad” means four. There are four lots of 25 years in a century.
And “centennial” means 100.
So quadranscentennial is saying one-fourth of 100 years.
Why Don’t We Use “Quadranscentennial”?
As mentioned earlier, the main reason why you rarely hear the term quadranscentennial is that we now have much easier ways of saying “25 years”, so it no longer serves its purpose.
If you were to say it, most people wouldn’t know what you were talking about. It’s not even in most English dictionaries.
What To Say Instead Of “It’s The 25th Anniversary Of An Event”
Use Terms Like “Silver Jubilee” Or “Silver Anniversary”
Some events you might want to celebrate yearly, such as an anniversary or a monarch’s coronation. But what do you call it when this event reaches 25 years?
Most people call it “silver”. Either a silver jubilee or a silver anniversary.
You could also call it a “25th jubilee” or a “25th anniversary”, but let’s be honest for a minute, calling it “silver” sounds much cooler.
Two Examples Of “Silver Jubilee” And “Silver Anniversary”
- The most common silver jubilee would be the Queen’s (of the UK) which took place in 1977. This, of course, took place after she had spent 25 years on the throne.
- Often, when we talk about “anniversaries”, we mean wedding anniversaries. So if you celebrate your 25th wedding anniversary, you will have been married for 25 years.
Conclusion
And there we have various ways of saying “period of 25 years”. As you can see, there isn’t one word that suits all situations. And it isn’t like “decade” or “century” where there is a commonly known and widely used word.
However, we hope this information has taught you some new things about the English language. And next time someone uses one of the terms highlighted today, you will have a better idea of what exactly they are talking about.
Martin holds a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Read more about Martin here.
