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semester - 4 dictionary results

se⋅mes⋅ter

  [si-mes-ter]
Use semester in a Sentence
–noun
1. (in many educational institutions) a division constituting half of the regular academic year, lasting typically from 15 to 18 weeks.
2. (in German universities) a session, lasting about six months and including periods of recess.
Origin:
1820–30; < G < L sēmē(n)stris of six months duration < *sex-mēnstris, equiv. to sex six + mēns(is) month + -tris adj. suffix (perh. repr. an earlier *mens(i)-teros)

Related forms:
se⋅mes⋅tral, se⋅mes⋅tri⋅al  [si-mes-tree-uhl] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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se·mes·ter   (sə-měs'tər)   
n.  One of two divisions of 15 to 18 weeks each of an academic year.

[German, from Latin (cursus) sēmēstris, (cursus) sēmēnstris, (course) of six months : sē-, six (from sex; see s(w)eks in Indo-European roots) + mēnsis, month; see mē-2 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Semester

Se*mes"ter\, n. [G., from L. semestris half-yearly; sex six + mensis a month.] A period of six months; especially, a term in a college or uneversity which divides the year into two terms.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : semester
Spanish: clase, lección,
German: die Kurse, die Vorlesungen,
Japanese: 授業科目
More Translations »

semester 
1827, from Ger. Semester, from L. semestris, in cursus semestris "course of six months," from semestris "of six months," from sex "six" + mensis "month."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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