semi
- semitrailer(def 1).
- Often semis. semifinal(def 3).
Origin of semi
semi-
- a combining form borrowed from Latin, meaning “half,” freely prefixed to English words of any origin, now sometimes with the senses “partially,” “incompletely,” “somewhat”: semiautomatic; semidetached; semimonthly; semisophisticated.
Origin of semi-
Usage note
Examples from the Web for semi
Contemporary Examples
South Korea kept on going, through the quarterfinals, all the way to the semi, which they barely lost to Germany.
One can perhaps tolerate the views expressed on Tuesday night in semi demented, rich old uncles.
A leashed dog flitted from pickup to semi to tour bus, sometimes pulling its handler as it charged ahead.
U.S. Drug and Immigration Checkpoints Take Toll on Border TownsAndrew Becker, G. W. Schulz
June 18, 2013
It carries enough goods in a year to fill literally millions of semi trucks.
Chenard said he pulled the car up along side of the semi and they saw the back tires of the trailer were engulfed in flames.
Historical Examples
Clearly these should only be planted in wild and semi–wild places.
The Wild GardenWilliam Robinson
Semi has had more success than I require, and considerably more than I expected.
Miss Eden's LettersEmily Eden
Semi can give him the former, and over the latter our future journey lies.
Buffalo LandW. E. Webb
Raising his hand in a semi salute, the man started into the woods.
The Clock Strikes ThirteenMildred A. Wirt
It continues to be the resort of persons of every civilized, and almost every semi civilized, nation on the face of the earth.
Life and Work in Benares and Kumaon, 1839-1877James Kennedy
semi
- British a semidetached house
- short for semifinal
- US, Canadian, Australian and NZ short for semitrailer
semi-
- halfsemicircle Compare demi- (def. 1), hemi-
- partially, partly, not completely, or almostsemiprofessional; semifinal
- occurring twice in a specified period of timesemiannual; semiweekly
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for semi
semi-
before vowels sem-, word-forming element meaning "half, part, partly; partial, imperfect; twice," from Latin semi- "half," from PIE *semi- "half" (cf. Sanskrit sami "half," Greek hemi- "half," Old English sam-, Gothic sami- "half").
Old English cognate sam- was used in such compounds as samhal "poor health," literally "half-whole;" samsoden "half-cooked," figuratively "stupid" (cf. half-baked); samcucu "half-dead," literally "half-alive;" and the last survivor of the group, sandblind "dim-sighted" (q.v.). Common in Latin (e.g. semi-gravis "half-drunk," semi-hora "half hour," semi-mortuus "half-dead," semi-nudus "half-naked," semi-vir "half-man, hermaphrodite"). The Latin-derived form in English has been active in forming native words since 15c.
semi-
- Half:semicanal.
- Partial; partially:semiconscious.
- Resembling or having some of the characteristics of:semilunar.
semi-
- A prefix that means half, (as in semicircle, half a circle) or partly, somewhat, less than fully, (as in semiconscious, partly conscious).