semicircle

American  

[sem-i-sur-kuhl] / ˈsɛm ɪˌsɜr kəl /

noun

• semicircles
  plural

1. Also called semicircumference. half of a circle; the arc from one end of a diameter to the other.

2. anything having or arranged in the form of a half of a circle.

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semicircle British  

/ ˈsɛmɪˌsɜːkəl /

noun

1. 1. one half of a circle

   2. half the circumference of a circle

2. anything having the shape or form of half a circle

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• semicircularness
  noun
• semicircular
  adjective
• semicircularly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• semicircles
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of semicircle

From the Latin word sēmicirculus, dating back to 1520–30. See semi-, circle

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

semicircle semicircles

For instance, traveling from the North Pole to the South Pole along Earth's surface follows a semicircle, which represents the shortest possible route on a sphere.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 9, 2026

When you put it on you see before you four empty wooden chairs ranged in a semicircle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026

The playa is arranged as a semicircle, and radial streets are named as if their position were a clock face.

From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2025

We sat on a picnic bench in a sweltering city park, and he tried to provoke me as a crowd of his fans stood in a semicircle around us, staring and heckling.

From Slate ● Feb. 10, 2025

Please, please, please, I think as we crest the last hill and reach the flat sandy area, where a bunch of people are in a semicircle like they’re at a sporting event.

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson

“Feeling valued” and “adding value” form semicircles around the target, and an outer circle replicates the four domains for each of the “value” categories in the adjacent inner ring.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 6, 2022

In the ultra-stylized portraits of this Brooklyn-based painter, flesh resolves into Euclidean shapes and decorative patterning: eyes and breasts appear as little half-moons, foreheads and shoulders as perfect semicircles of pink and powder blue.

From New York Times ● Oct. 28, 2021

If the amputated upper arm of an antique sculpture looked like a circle from one angle, he would build up the rest of the figure with circles and semicircles.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 14, 2021

He draws his characters in a way that initially suggests minimal emotion: their eyes are dots, their mouths small semicircles.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 14, 2019

His eyelashes cast semicircles of shadow on his cheeks.

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg

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