semester

American  

[si-mes-ter] / sɪˈmɛs tər /

noun

• semesters
  plural

1. (in many educational institutions) a division constituting half of the regular academic year, lasting typically from 15 to 18 weeks.

2. (in German universities) a session, lasting about six months and including periods of recess.

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semester British  

/ sɪˈmɛstə /

noun

1. (in some universities) either of two divisions of the academic year, ranging from 15 to 18 weeks

2. (in German universities) a session of six months

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Usage

What does semester mean? A semester is one half of an academic year. If an academic year is divided into semesters, it means it is divided into two semesters. (If the year is divided into thirds, each part is called a trimester.)Semesters are typically used in high schools and universities. In many universities, a semester lasts 15 to 18 weeks. In German universities, a semester can last up to six months. Example: I’m thinking about taking a break from school for a semester to work and save some money.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• semestral
  adjective
• semestrial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• semesters
  plural

Etymology

Origin of semester

1820–30; < German < Latin sēmē ( n ) stris of six months duration < *sex-mēnstris, equivalent to sex six + mēns ( is ) month + -tris adj. suffix (perhaps representing an earlier *mens ( i ) -teros )

Explanation

A semester is half of a school year. In September of your first year of high school, you could describe yourself as "a first-semester freshman." The noun semester comes up often when you're in high school and college. It's an easy way to divide the school year, into two equal halves, or semesters. Sometimes a class lasts for the whole year, and sometimes for just one semester. Occasionally schools split the year into three trimesters just to make things interesting. Originally, semester meant "six months," from the Latin root of the same meaning, semestris.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

semester semesters

Ishaan Shah recalls being rejected by the quantitative-trading club at Penn in his first semester of college.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Francis said she was appalled upon learning the result of the appeal two days into the current semester.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Unlike most of the alleged assailants, Doe left college after what Giuffra has described as a “horrifying” semester in which she had to attend classes “where she saw these guys on a fairly regular basis.”

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

She found Finch after a tough semester of graduate school where she felt like she was “falling apart as a person.”

From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026

“Try to get here a little earlier, okay? If it happens again this semester, I’ll be required to give you an after-school detention. It’s school policy.”

From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day

Given that fall and spring semesters run for a combined 30 weeks, this works out to roughly $107 an hour.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

For two semesters, I dressed up to teach from my living room laptop, receiving excellent evaluations.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

Instead of taking on summer internships or job-shadowing opportunities between semesters, he worked a retail gig to pay for college.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

It’s a habit of creating and destroying that she formed as a student at Claremont High School, where she studied the craft for two semesters, yet fired zero pieces.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2026

“I want to take college classes online. I mean...well, I’ve been taking them for 2 semesters already, but under Nana’s name. For fun.”

From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty