The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002.
annus mirabilis
(AN-uhs mi-RAB-uh-lis) A Latin expression meaning “miraculous year.” The term refers to a year in which an unusual number of remarkable things occurred: “The Waste Land and Ulysses both appeared in 1922, the annus mirabilis of modern literature.”
‡ The reverse is an annus horribilus, or “terrible year.” Queen Elizabeth II used the term in 1992, referring to a major fire at Windsor Castle and the widely publicized marital problems of her family members.
