semester

[si-mes-ter]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR semester ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

(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.

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)

Related formsse·mes·tral, se·mes·tri·al

[si-mes-tree-uh l] /sɪˈmɛs tri əl/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for semester

course, quarter, session, period

Examples from the Web for semester

Contemporary Examples of semester

I had been studying abroad in London, and came back to finish the semester at Tufts.
Everyone at This Dinner Party Has Lost Someone
Samantha Levine
January 6, 2015
The trick, in any case, was repeated semester after semester.
Stonewall Jackson, VMI’s Most Embattled Professor
S. C. Gwynne
November 29, 2014
According to his suit, Carleton would rotate four new boys into his home every semester.
Headmasters Behaving Badly
Emily Shire
November 29, 2014
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 Times
Amy Zimmerman
August 22, 2014
The exposure my client would have had in criminal court doesn't compare to a second semester senior getting expelled.
Is UMass-Amherst Biased Against Male Students in Title IX Assault Cases?
Emily Shire
August 18, 2014

Historical Examples of semester

But we had so many new girls this semester that I could not get around sooner.
Elizabeth Hobart at Exeter Hall
Jean K. Baird
The students of the present semester number fifteen hundred.
Complete Story of the San Francisco Horror
Richard Linthicum
There were enough paintings there to last till the end of the semester.
Beatrice Leigh at College
Julia Augusta Schwartz
One semester in this subject was usually considered sufficient.
My Life
Josiah Flynt
I had other uses for the semester twenty marks, unless he absolutely needed them.
My Life
Josiah Flynt

British Dictionary definitions for semester

semester

noun

(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

Derived Formssemestral, adjective

Word Origin for semester

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for semester

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.