semester
[si-mes-ter]
- (in many educational institutions) a division constituting half of the regular academic year, lasting typically from 15 to 18 weeks.
- (in German universities) a session, lasting about six months and including periods of recess.
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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)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for semester
Contemporary Examples
I had been studying abroad in London, and came back to finish the semester at Tufts.
The trick, in any case, was repeated semester after semester.
According to his suit, Carleton would rotate four new boys into his home every semester.
During his spring semester at Duke University, senior Lewis McLeod was expelled for committing a sexual assault.
The College Bro’s Burden: Consent and Assault Cast a Shadow on Sexy TimesAmy Zimmerman
August 22, 2014
The exposure my client would have had in criminal court doesn't compare to a second semester senior getting expelled.
Historical Examples
But we had so many new girls this semester that I could not get around sooner.
Elizabeth Hobart at Exeter HallJean K. Baird
The students of the present semester number fifteen hundred.
Complete Story of the San Francisco HorrorRichard Linthicum
There were enough paintings there to last till the end of the semester.
Beatrice Leigh at CollegeJulia Augusta Schwartz
One semester in this subject was usually considered sufficient.
My LifeJosiah Flynt
I had other uses for the semester twenty marks, unless he absolutely needed them.
My LifeJosiah Flynt
semester
- (in some universities) either of two divisions of the academic year, ranging from 15 to 18 weeks
- (in German universities) a session of six months
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Word Origin
C19: via German from Latin sēmestris half-yearly, from sex six + mensis a month
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for semester
n.
1827, from German Semester "half-year course in a university," from Latin semestris, in cursus semestris "course of six months," from semestris, semenstris "of six months, lasting six months, half-yearly, semi-annual," from sex "six" (see six) + mensis "month" (see moon (n.)). Related: Semestral; semestrial.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper