semester

semester — noun

1. each half of a school or university year, typically about fifteen to eighteen we

1.nounB1
Definition

each half of a school or university year, typically about fifteen to eighteen weeks long; US institutions usually offer a fall semester and a spring semester.

Example

Walid enrolled in five courses for the fall semester at UCLA.

collocation: fall semester / spring semester

Jiwoo received her final grades at the end of the spring semester.

collocation: end of the semester

Common collocations
  • fall semester
  • spring semester
  • summer semester
  • first semester
  • last semester
  • this semester
  • next semester
  • entire semester
Synonyms
  • term

    used in British and some Commonwealth education systems; usually refers to one of three periods per year rather than two

  • trimester

    a division of the academic year into three equal parts; less common than semester in US universities but used by some schools

  • quarter

    a division into four periods of about ten weeks each, used at some US universities (e.g., the University of Chicago)

Grammar Patterns

fall/spring/summer + semester

first/next/last + semester

during/in + [article] + semester

Usage Note

In American English, the academic year is commonly divided into a fall semester (August–December) and a spring semester (January–May), with an optional shorter summer semester. In British English, the equivalent word is term, which usually refers to one of three periods per year.

Common Mistakes

In the UK, students attend school for two semesters each year.
In the UK, students attend school for three terms each year.
British schools use 'term', not 'semester', for academic periods.
During last semester I took five classes during last semester.
Last semester I took five classes.
'last semester' already indicates when; do not repeat it with 'during'.

Word family

  • semestral
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words refer to divisions of the academic year, but the number of periods per year differs. A semester splits the year into two roughly equal halves (fall and spring), each lasting 15–18 weeks. A term is the standard British word for an academic period; the UK school year usually has three terms (autumn, spring, summer). A trimester also divides the year into three parts, but the periods are more equal in length than British terms and are common in some US graduate programmes. A quarter system, used by a minority of US universities, divides the year into four periods of about ten weeks each. In American English, semester is the default word for a 15–18 week academic period, while in British English term is used instead. For example: 'The fall semester starts in late August at most US colleges,' but 'The autumn term begins in early September in UK schools.'

semester ↗termtrimesterquarter ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • semester grades
  • semester break
  • semester schedule
  • semester system
  • semester fee

Phrases

  • end of the semester
  • start of the semester
  • beginning of the semester
  • middle of the semester
  • throughout the semester

Prepositions

  • during the semester
  • in the semester
  • before the semester
  • after the semester

Etymology

LatinGermanEnglish

The word 'semester' entered English in the early 1800s from German 'Semester', which came from Latin 'semestris' (meaning 'six-monthly'). The Latin word is a combination of 'sex' (six) and 'mensis' (month). In its original sense it referred to a six-month period, but as the word spread through US universities in the 19th century, it became attached to the shorter 15–18 week academic term that we use today.