What is the formal anniversary term for the United States turning 250 in 2026?
Answer
Semiquincentennial
The formal anniversary term for the United States turning 250 in 2026 is semiquincentennial.
The word combines roots meaning half and five hundred, producing the sense of half of five hundred years. It describes a 250th anniversary, just as bicentennial describes a 200th anniversary and tricentennial describes a 300th anniversary.
The term is less familiar in everyday speech than bicentennial, so the official commemoration is widely branded America250. Other historical and proposed labels include sestercentennial, quarter millennium, and bisesquicentennial.
America's 150th anniversary in 1926 was called the sesquicentennial, while the 200th anniversary in 1976 was the bicentennial. The 250th anniversary therefore needs a different term, even though all three observances commemorate milestones in the country's history.