prefixes - Biweekly, bimonthly, semi-confused



There seems to be a fair amount of confusion surrounding the meaning of the prefix bi when used with units of time measurement. Biweekly, according to dictionary.com, can mean either "occurring twice weekly," or "occurring once every two weeks." Falling within the same realm of confusion are bimonthly and biannually.


As of late, it seems that we've begun replacing the bi prefix with semi when the intended meaning is "occurring twice within," while continuing to use the former when the intended meaning is "occurring once every other." Though this is a step in the right direction, there still seems to be confusion around proper usage.


Whose genius idea was it to start using the bi prefix to mean two very different things? If my employer told me my pay periods were bimonthly, should I assume they meant semimonthly or once every other month?



Answer



The obvious distinction is between biannual and biennial which although originally cognate from Latin and Italian now seem to have distinct common meanings: twice a year and every two years respectively, even though Wiktionary discourages biannual.


So for weeks and months all you need to do is wait for two forms to arise and then wait for people to decide which is which. Semi- for "half a ...", i.e. "twice a ...", looks a sensible approach.


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