semicircle
Americannoun
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Also called semicircumference. half of a circle; the arc from one end of a diameter to the other.
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anything having or arranged in the form of a half of a circle.
noun
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one half of a circle
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half the circumference of a circle
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anything having the shape or form of half a circle
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of semicircle
From the Latin word sēmicirculus, dating back to 1520–30. See semi-, circle
Vocabulary lists containing semicircle
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
There were six of them, and they came and stood in a little semicircle around me when it was my turn.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
