semiquaver

[sem-ee-kwey-ver]

noun Music (chiefly British ).

a sixteenth note.

Origin of semiquaver

First recorded in 1570–80; semi- + quaver

Also called demiquaver.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for semiquaver

Historical Examples of semiquaver

The breve and the semiquaver is, we must have the descant you made upon our names, ere you depart.
The Works of John Marston
John Marston
And as the preceding Semiquaver rang a handbell, this shaked the sprinkle with his fist.
Gargantua and Pantagruel, Complete.
Francois Rabelais

British Dictionary definitions for semiquaver

semiquaver

noun

music a note having the time value of one-sixteenth of a semibreveUsual US and Canadian name: sixteenth note

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 semiquaver

"sixteenth-note," 1570s, from semi- + quaver (n.).