semester

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɪˈmɛstɚ/; /sɪˈmɛstə/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Semester (“half-year course at a university”),^[2][3][4] from Latin sēmēstris, of six months, half-yearly, in cursus sēmēstris, a course of six months,^[2][3] from sex, six (see six), and mēnsis, month (see moon).^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A period of six months, especially a half-year course in a German university: 1826 in Merriam-Webster, 1827 in Barnhart, Etymonline and the OED.^[5][2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

Both the word and the idea came from German universities, and spread to universities in the United States,^[6][7] where a semester is one of two divisions of the academic year of 15 to 18 weeks.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 1826 – first known use.^[5]
• 1827 – a half-year course.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Either of two divisions of the academic year, usually of 15 to 18 weeks.
2. In German universities, a session of six months.

Word family

• semestral

Related words

• trimester
• semiannual
• six
• month

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins