Standard Lemma guide

semiannual

adj · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S EH2 M IY0 AE1 N Y AH0 W AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: S EH2 M AY0 AE1 N Y AH0 W AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 3: S EH2 M AH0 AE1 N Y AH0 W AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Biannual: occurring twice a year

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Something occurring twice each year.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

occurring or payable twice each year

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: biannual, biyearly, half-yearly

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sēmi Latin sēmi-bor. English semi- English annual English semiannual From semi- + annual.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: полугодишен (polugodišen) — half-yearly
  • Dutch: halfjaarlijks — half-yearly
  • Esperanto: duonjara — half-yearly
  • Finnish: puolivuosittainen — half-yearly
  • Finnish: kahdesti vuodessa tapahtuva — half-yearly
  • French: semi-annuel — half-yearly
  • German: halbjährlich — half-yearly
  • Hindi: अर्धवार्षिक (ardhavārṣik) — half-yearly
  • Hungarian: félévenkénti — half-yearly
  • Irish: leathbhliantúil — half-yearly
  • Japanese: 半年ごとの (hantoshi-goto no) — half-yearly
  • Norwegian: halv årlig — half-yearly
  • Russian: полугодово́й (polugodovój) — half-yearly
  • Swedish: halvårsvis — half-yearly
  • Swedish: halvårlig — half-yearly