Standard Lemma guide

semifinal

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.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -aɪnəl
  • CMU ARPABET: S EH2 M IY0 F AY1 N AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: S EH2 M IH0 F AY1 N AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 3: S EH2 M AY0 F AY1 N AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A playoff in the round with only four players or teams left, the stage before the final.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, sports

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A competition that narrows a field of contestants (semifinalists) to a set of finalists, for a subsequent final.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

one of the two competitions in the next to the last round of an elimination tournament

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: semi

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: match

History

Etymology

From Latin semifinalis, equivalent to semi- + final.

Across languages

Translations

41 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: الدور قبل النهائي — competition
  • Bulgarian: полуфина́л (polufinál) — competition
  • Chinese Cantonese: 四強 /四强 (sei3 koeng4) — competition
  • Chinese Mandarin: 半決賽 /半决赛 (bànjuésài) — competition
  • Chinese Mandarin: 四強 /四强 (sìqiáng) — competition
  • Czech: semifinále — competition
  • Danish: semifinale — competition
  • Dutch: halve finale — competition
  • Estonian: poolfinaal — competition
  • Finnish: välierä — competition
  • Finnish: semifinaali — competition
  • French: demi-finale — competition
  • Georgian: ნახევარფინალი (naxevarpinali) — competition
  • German: Halbfinale — competition
  • German: Semifinale — competition
  • Greek: ημιτελικός (imitelikós) — competition
  • Hungarian: elődöntő — competition
  • Irish: cluiche leathcheannais — competition
  • Italian: semifinale — competition
  • Japanese: 準決勝 (junkesshō) — competition
  • Japanese: 四強 (yonkyō) — competition
  • Korean: 준결승 (jun'gyeolseung) — competition
  • Korean: 사강 (sagang) — competition
  • Latin: semifinale — competition
  • Latin: semifinalis — competition
  • Macedonian: полуфина́ле (polufinále) — competition
  • Polish: półfinał — competition
  • Portuguese: semifinal — competition
  • Portuguese: meia-final — competition
  • Russian: полуфина́л (polufinál) — competition
  • Spanish: semifinal — competition
  • Swahili: nusu fainali — competition
  • Swedish: semifinal — competition
  • Tagalog: malapangwakas — competition
  • Tagalog: mala-pangwakas — competition
  • Thai: รองสุดท้าย (rong-sùd-táai) — competition
  • Turkish: dömifinal — competition
  • Turkish: semifinal — competition
  • Turkish: yarı final — competition
  • Ukrainian: півфіна́л (pivfinál) — competition
  • Vietnamese: bán kết — competition
Real reading context

semifinal in complete knowledge articles