semester

noun

se·​mes·​ter sə-ˈme-stər 

1

: either of the two usually 18-week periods of instruction into which an academic year is often divided

2

: a period of six months

semestral

sə-ˈme-strəl 

adjective

or semestrial

sə-ˈme-strē-əl 

Examples of semester in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Freshman Andrea Kim, who enrolled in the class this semester, welcomes those lessons. —Rebecca Redelmeier, NPR, 22 Dec. 2024

That meant this fall semester playing in the band for Friday night football games, getting up on Saturdays for cross country meets and also attending golf practices and matches during the week. —Andy Humbles, The Tennessean, 22 Dec. 2024

If that's you, Class Tracker's first three pages are designated for outlining your semester schedule from Monday to Sunday, 6 am to midnight. —Medea Giordano, WIRED, 21 Dec. 2024

Anti-Israel protests plagued the Ivy League university during the spring semester, prompting the school to cancel its university-wide commencement and make campus safety changes ahead of the start of the new academic year, which began earlier this fall. —Pilar Arias, Fox News, 8 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

German, from Latin semestris half-yearly, from sex six + mensis month — more at six, moon

First Known Use

1827, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing semester

• semester hour

Kids Definition

semester

noun

se·​mes·​ter sə-ˈmes-tər 

: either of two terms of about 18 weeks each that make up a school year