Why does biweekly have two meanings

Log in Sign Up. More Words At Play. Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Oct. Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Nov. Time Traveler. Love words? Need even more definitions? Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs. What Is 'Semantic Bleaching'? How 'literally' can mean "figuratively". Literally How to use a word that literally drives some pe Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

The awkward case of 'his or her'. The simplist solution is not to use these words. Well, it would seem that everyone has thier own take on Bi. So, semisexuals are attracted to half a sex? Seems the line blurrs the closer to you get to it! All of the actual dictionary resources that I check seem to agree that biweekly and bimonthly originated as meaning every two weeks and every two months respectively , but that common usage has made the definitions ambiguous. What makes this even odder is that all the dictionaries seem to agree that biannual only means twice a year because there is an entirely separate word, biennual, which means every two years.

While I would prefer that everyone stick to the original defined usage ie. I love this one I was raised in the UK and have lived in the US for the last 14 years, and it still creates confusion when communicating across the pond. My old UK dictionary has both "every two" or "twice per" listed, and it depends on whether the term was being used as an adjective or an adverb. Many people refer to the commonly used biweekly [adj] publications as proof that its "every two," yet my US company gives me a bimonthly [adj] paycheck twice per month their term not mine.

I find most confusion occurs around biweekly [adv] meetings. UK tends to see it as "twice per" and US as "every two. Fortnightly doesn't work outside of the UK so that's not an option either.

To further make a point on how confusing it is in the UK a biweekly meet is every two weeks, because a "meet" is a noun typically used in Fox Hunting. I have given up listening to who is right and wrong, and at the end of the day who really cares?

Its a pointless discussion as you will never convince the other person they are wrong. You might gather all the data to prove you are right, yet the other person will find an equal amount of data to prove you wrong.

Its just not worth it. My advice is to explicitly state your intent, otherwise many hours will get wasted and worse you may come off looking like a complete idiot if you try to push an argument you can't win in the other persons mind. Case in point, if you are reading this post, ask yourself why you are here and how many other posts did you read before this one?

If you are not convinced its a bad idea to push for one or the other Not this topic again Mar Please do not use "semi [period]" to mean "twice per [period]" or "once per half [period]". For comments here, it seems to have traction in the US but it certainly does not have traction outside the US. In terms of time, semi can mean something like "not quite a [period]" e. Given that this is frequency, not quite monthly does not mean "more often than once a month" it means "not as often as a month".

So semi still means less often than monthly, but without a known or exact cadence. Long story short, semi is nowhere near accurate enough to mean "twice" or "half" or anything to do with a specific number.

NZ Jun BTW, I know that "semi" has an original Latin meaning of "half" but it has lost precision in English e. Do you have a question? It could mean both! A biannual event could take place twice a year June, then December, for example or every other year , , etc.

Find out what other words are related to biweekly here! A fortnight is a period of two weeks. Fun fact: the fort in fortnight has nothing to do with Fort McHenry or the pillow forts you built as a kid.

If all else fails, context, context, context! If you get a new job that pays biweekly , odds are—given how the world works and all—you get paid every other week. But hey, if you want to pay us twice a week, go ahead then! Feedback We've Added New Words!