trimester
Americannoun
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a term or period of three months.
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one of the three approximately equal terms into which the year is divided by some colleges, schools, etc.
noun
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a period of three months
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(in some US and Canadian universities or schools) any of the three academic sessions
Other Word Forms
- trimestral adjective
- trimestrial adjective
Etymology
Origin of trimester
1815–25; < French trimestre < Latin trimē ( n ) stris of three months, equivalent to tri- tri- + -mē ( n ) stris ( see semester)
Explanation
When something lasts for three months, you can say it lasts for a trimester. Each three-month period of pregnancy, for example, is one trimester. A trimester is typically three months, including a trimester of human gestation (or the time pregnancy lasts), although sometimes it's a length of time divided into three equal parts. An academic calendar is usually split into two semesters, but when it's made up of three sections, each is a trimester. The Latin root of trimester is trimestris, "of three months," from tri-, "three," and mensis, "month."
Vocabulary lists containing trimester
Far from the Tree
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tri-
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tri (three)
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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.
Further, phthalate exposure was measured in the pregnant women from just one urine sample in the first trimester, “which may have introduced exposure misclassification,” the paper notes.
From Slate • Apr. 16, 2026
Indira has already had the mosquito-borne disease, chikungunya, in the first trimester during a nationwide outbreak in Cuba.
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026
“As such deserts have expanded, patients in the first trimester have had to drive further, and thus it is unsurprising that early initiation is decreasing.”
From Salon • Mar. 1, 2026
Scientists have shown that this ratio reflects the balance of estrogen and testosterone a fetus is exposed to during the first trimester of pregnancy.
From Science Daily • Feb. 10, 2026
She’d nearly miscarried in the first trimester, and now that she was approaching twenty weeks, she was beginning to have contractions.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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.
