millennial

== English == === Etymology === The adjective is a learned borrowing from Late Latin mīllennium (“millennium”) + English -al (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives; and forming nouns). The English word may be analysed as millennium +‎ -al or milli- (prefix meaning ‘thousand’) +‎ -ennial (suffix meaning ‘years’). Adjective sense 5 (“of or relating to, or characteristic of, people born in the last two decades of the 20th century”) was coined by the American authors William Strauss (1947–2007) and Neil Howe (born 1951) in their book Generations (1991): see the quotations. The noun is derived from the adjective. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /mɪˈlɛn.ɪ.əl/ (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /məˈlɛn.i.əl/ Hyphenation: mil‧len‧ni‧al Rhymes: -ɛniəl === Adjective === millennial (not comparable) Thousand-year-old; also (by extension, loosely) thousands of years old. Synonym: millenarian Occurring every thousand years. Occurring at, or relating to, the beginning or end of a millennium. Referring to the thousandth anniversary of an event or happening. (by extension, originally US, demography) Often capitalized: of or relating to, or characteristic of, people born in the last two decades of the 20th century from around the early 1980s to the mid 1990s (with 1996 births cited as the last Millennial year), and who reached adulthood early in the third millennium C.E. Alternative form: Millennial (Christianity) Synonym of millenarian (“pertaining to the belief in an impending period of one thousand years of peace and righteousness associated with the Second Coming of Christ and his reign on earth”). Synonym: (rare) millenniary ==== Coordinate terms ==== semiannual · annual · biennial · triennial · quadrennial · quinquennial, quintennial · sextennial · septennial · octennial · novennial · decennary, decennial · sesquidecennial · centennial · sesquicentennial · bicentennial · tricentennial · quadricentennial · bimillennial · trimillennial · quadrimillennial · decamillennial ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Noun === millennial (plural millennials) (originally US, demography) Often capitalized: a person from the generation born in the last two decades of the 20th century, from around the early 1980s to the mid-1990s and who reached adulthood early in the third millennium C.E., characterized by their familiarity with computer technology and poorer financial prospects than their parents. Synonyms: echo boomer, Generation Yer (obsolete, rare) A thousandth anniversary; also, a celebration of such an anniversary. Hypernym: anniversary Coordinate terms: centennial (100), bicentennial (200), semiquincentennial (250), sestercentennial (250), tricentennial (300), quincentennial (500) ==== Alternative forms ==== (demography): Millennial ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== Thesaurus:frequency === References === === Further reading === millennialism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia millennials on Wikipedia.Wikipedia millennium on Wikipedia.Wikipedia millennials (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia == Spanish == === Alternative forms === milenial, milénial, millenial === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English millennial. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /miˈlenjal/ [miˈle.njal] Rhymes: -enjal Syllabification: mi‧llen‧nial === Noun === millennial m or f by sense (plural millennials) millennial ==== Usage notes ==== According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed. === Further reading === “millennial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025 Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “millennial”, in Diccionario del español actual (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA “millennial”, in Diccionario del español de México, Segunda edición, Academia Mexicana de la Lengua, 2019