biweekly

1 of 2

adjective

bi·​week·​ly (ˌ)bī-ˈwē-klē 

1

: occurring every two weeks : fortnightly

2

: occurring twice a week

biweekly adverb

What do bimonthly and biweekly mean?: Usage Guide

Many people are puzzled about bimonthly and biweekly, which are often ambiguous because they are formed from two different senses of bi-: "occurring every two" and "occurring two times." This ambiguity has been in existence for nearly a century and a half and cannot be eliminated by the dictionary. The chief difficulty is that many users of these words assume that others know exactly what they mean, and they do not bother to make their context clear. So if you need bimonthly or biweekly, you should leave some clues in your context to the sense of bi- you mean. And if you need the meaning "twice a," you can substitute semi- for bi-. Biannual and biennial are usually differentiated.

biweekly

2 of 2

noun

1

: a publication issued every two weeks

2

: semiweekly

Examples of biweekly in a Sentence

Adjective

The biweekly mortgage loan was started in Canada and is now offered by lenders in the United States. This loan is similar to the standard fixed-rate loan except for the frequency of payments. Instead of making one monthly payment, the borrower makes a payment equal to one-half of the normal monthly payment every two weeks … —Stephen R. Mettling et al., Modern Residential Financing Methods, 1990

Last week ABC brought back Dick Cavett … and introduced syndicated newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin as Cavett's biweekly alternate (Thursday and Fridays). —Harry Waters, Newsweek, 6 Oct. 1986

She attends biweekly classes and studies at the library every Saturday.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Sign up here for Future Perfect’s biweekly newsletter from Marina Bolotnikova and Kenny Torrella, exploring how the meat and dairy industries shape our health, politics, culture, environment, and more. —Marina Bolotnikova, Vox, 27 Nov. 2024

The biweekly sessions are a key component of SWAGEP, which enrolls out-of-school girls who live in the Wassa camp and gets them ready for formal education. —Kate Okorie, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Oct. 2024

Noun

Romano, who monitors the two-way radio communication between the transportation company and the Southington Police Department, said at least biweekly there is a bus driver who is reporting a problem driver to authorities. —Sean Krofssik, Hartford Courant, 25 Nov. 2024

Debt: $0 Paycheck amount (biweekly): $2,630 Pronouns: She/her Monthly Expenses HOA: $500 Mortgage: $2,725 (paid by M.). —R29 Team, refinery29.com, 18 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1829, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Noun

circa 1890, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

biweekly

1 of 2 adjective

bi·​week·​ly (ˈ)bī-ˈwē-klē 

1

: occurring, done, or produced every two weeks

2

: occurring, done, or produced twice a week

biweekly adverb

biweekly

2 of 2 noun

: a biweekly publication