biweekly

American  

[bahy-week-lee] / baɪˈwik li /

adjective

1. occurring every two weeks.

2. occurring twice a week; semiweekly.

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noun

biweeklies plural

1. a periodical issued every other week.

adverb

1. every two weeks.

2. twice a week.

biweekly British  

/ baɪˈwiːklɪ /

adjective

1. every two weeks

2. (often avoided because of confusion with sense 1) twice a week; semiweekly See bi- 1

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noun

1. a periodical published every two weeks

Usage

What does biweekly mean? Biweekly is commonly used to mean one of two things: once every two weeks or twice per week. It can be used this way as an adjective, as in a biweekly meeting, or an adverb, as in We plan to meet biweekly. Yes, you can sometimes figure out what biweekly means from the context of the sentence. But not always. The term biweekly meeting might mean that it happens twice a week or every two weeks—both senses of the word are commonly used. Here’s the best (and maybe only) way to be perfectly clear: just say “twice a week” or “once every two weeks.”Biweekly can also be used as a noun referring to a publication that’s published twice per week or once every two weeks (as opposed to a daily or weekly, for example). Examples:

• New episodes of my biweekly podcast come out every other Monday. 
• Let’s plan to meet biweekly—every Tuesday and Friday.

Commonly Confused

See bi- ¹.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• biweeklies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of biweekly

First recorded in 1880–85; bi- ¹ + weekly

Explanation

Things that happen biweekly usually happen once every two weeks. Or twice a week. Just to confuse you. In the publishing world, this word is straightforward: a biweekly magazine comes out once every two weeks. But once you step outside magazines and newspapers, it gets a little more confusing. People use this word to describe things that happen once every two weeks, which is officially correct. They also use it to describe things that happen twice in one week, which is kind of correct — but the word semiweekly is more accurate in that case.

Example Sentences

Biweekly, she says, focus on the toilet, floors, hand towels, microwave and rugs.

From Washington Post • Aug. 9, 2021

Biweekly surveys by the Census Bureau showed steadily rising need.

From New York Times • Feb. 14, 2021

If the court doesn’t require the bond, Nationwide Biweekly can begin operating again, Mr. Lipsky said.

From New York Times • Dec. 5, 2017

Stone's Biweekly, in 1971 after a 19-year run, and has turned to a new career: translating ancient Greek.

From Time Magazine Archive

They worked it all up from the boiler-plate war news in the Biweekly and Luke’s school geography.

From Short Stories of the New America Interpreting the America of this age to high school boys and girls by Various