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What do lengths of time with the "bi" prefix mean"? I have understood bicentennial as once every two hundred years, but biannual as meaning twice a year. Do biweekly and bimonthly mean twice a week or month, or once every two weeks or months?

If this prefix is not used consistently, is there any rationale as to why it isn't?

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There was some discussion of this here, though the question was closed. – Callithumpian Mar 29 '11 at 20:44

4 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

Bi- usually means "every two" (as in "every two [weeks/months/years, etc.]." But it can also mean "twice every [week/month/year, etc.]." The avoid confusion, I save bi for "every two" and use semi- to mean "twice every." I wish everyone did.

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Surely, to avoid confusion, one is sadly forced to bow to peer pressure and use every two for "bi"? – Edwin Ashworth Sep 20 '12 at 10:27
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The meanings of the prefix bi are:

  • occurring twice in every one: biannual, bimonthly.
  • occurring once in every two: bicentennial, biennial.
  • lasting for two: biennial, biennium.
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It looks clear and concise, but is misleading. biannual, for instance, should be shown to be in both [your] categories 'a' and 'b'. – Edwin Ashworth Sep 20 '12 at 10:07
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In a question which was closed as a duplicate of this question, Steward Godwin Jornsen asked:

I've had some trouble coming up with a one word adjective for 6 months. ... I've thought of semi-annually and bi-annually ... Could there be a better word for it?

While either of the adverbs semiannually (“In a semiannual manner, twice yearly”) or biannually (“Twice per year”) might serve, you could also consider twice-yearly and half-yearly, which fairly transparently mean twice a year and every six months, respectively.

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Thanks, jwpat7. Voted you up for the good thoughts. That could do, I really need a one worder for 6 months (half-a-year) like: daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, 6monthly, yearly. Thanks – Steward Godwin Jornsen Mar 2 at 22:04
up vote 0 down vote

biweekly = every two weeks
bimonthly = every two months
biennially = every two years

semiweekly = twice a week
semimonthly = twice a month
semiannually = biannually = twice a year

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Then what are the words for twice a week, month, year, or century? – Peter Olson Mar 29 '11 at 20:44
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This answer is technically incorrect. Biweekly can, and often does, mean twice a week. Bimonthly also has a similar double-meaning. – MrHen Mar 29 '11 at 20:51
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@MrHen is right. Also, I'd prefer biannual to semiannual, although both are equally valid. Putting on my British hat, I'd certainly use fortnightly to mean every two weeks, instead of biweekly, in order to prevent any ambiguity. – Jimi Oke Mar 29 '11 at 22:37
Wearing British hats can also give rise to ambiguity. My wife has two monthly pensions. One she receives every calendar month, the other bifortnightly. However, I would go with Collins' putting the calendar month as the principal polyseme rather than the AHDEL's attempt to be all-inclusive resulting in the loose: 1 A unit of time corresponding approximately to one cycle of the moon's phases, or about 30 days or 4 weeks. – Edwin Ashworth Sep 20 '12 at 10:20

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