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While writing programs, I need to create a drop down for setting periods, like daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Using one year as a time frame. This question is driven by lack of a better word. I've had some trouble coming up with a one word adjective for 6 months. I do have the following:

1 day - Daily,
1 week - Weekly,
1 month - Monthly,
3 months - Quarterly,
6 months - ?
1 year - Yearly or Annually
tchrist
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Steward Godwin Jornsen
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  • Just being positioned between "Quarterly" and "Yearly" should mitigate the ambiguity. So either one would be understood. (It won't stop some from making a mental note that it might be the wrong word, but they will still know your intent.) I would go with semiannually, myself. Unfortunately, this question has been marked as a duplicate for which no authoritative reference was provided. So you'll have to be trusting, I guess. – Canis Lupus Mar 02 '13 at 21:29
  • The question started off as more-or-less clear, then veered off somewhere strange ("bi-annually is not one word"), and the update is just a wall of text with no question in sight. Anyway, we have several questions dealing with the ambiguity of bi- already. All of them boiling down to "1) yes, it can be ambiguous — big deal, so can be most words —, and 2) no, there is no convenient one-word replacement — again, big deal, neither is there for most things". Nothing wrong with clearly stating "every six months" or "twice a year". – RegDwigнt Mar 02 '13 at 21:36
  • Steward, I added an answer (to suggest considering twice-yearly and half-yearly) at http://english.stackexchange.com/a/105871/11433 which you can vote up if you feel like. – James Waldby - jwpat7 Mar 02 '13 at 21:37
  • @RegDwighт, in the “more-or-less clear” part, Steward asks, “Could there be a better word for it?” which isn't a duplicate of linked question. I added an answer at the other question. But please reopen this question and transfer my answer from the other question to this one. – James Waldby - jwpat7 Mar 02 '13 at 21:40
  • Thanks jwpat7, the fact is I'd vote up your answer. One word appearing in two different questions don't make it duplicates. While one question could be about what does bi- stand for, my question is what better one word is there for 6 months like daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly. My guess it there might be one that I don't know of. The link for duplicate don't address my issue, an answer would help. At the moment, I'd go with the one answer I have here. biannually. But there is half-yearly, bi-yearly won't be bad. – Steward Godwin Jornsen Mar 02 '13 at 21:59
  • Do we all agree at this point that the word bi- has an ambiguous meaning? It seems to leave me more confused. I'd have to take it for lack of a better alternative. Just one more areas that English falls short of vocabularies. – Steward Godwin Jornsen Mar 02 '13 at 22:02
  • @RegDwighт, can I at least confirm is bi- is the same with semi-? Since the question is closed to answer? Semi is half, right? Thanks! – Steward Godwin Jornsen Mar 02 '13 at 22:26
  • According to the OED: The definition of biannual is "A) adj. Used as = Half-yearly. B) = BIENNAL,n." So, biannual can be used as an adjective that means every six months, but also as a noun that means every two years. The illustrative quote in the second case is "Plant out..annuals and bi-annuals", which shows how restricted this usage may be. The OED also mentions the adverb biannually as derivative; so, the answer to the original question is biannually, but to avoid confusion maybe you should use half-yearly. – The Frog Mar 03 '13 at 00:39
  • @Frog, now you confuse me again. I appreciate all the help here. Now, Since the question has been marked as duplicate, *Do I have to delete this question to avoid down votes* or leave it in case others might need it -- and suffer the consequences of a down vote? – Steward Godwin Jornsen Mar 03 '13 at 10:50
  • Possible Duplicate http://english.stackexchange.com/a/81613/14666 – Kris Mar 03 '13 at 12:54
  • @Frog, your link for possible duplicate makes more sense than the initial one from RegDwight. Now you can completely close the question. – Steward Godwin Jornsen Mar 03 '13 at 12:57

1 Answers1

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Biannually

Should do the trick, and fits with your running theme of -ly suffixes. It is spelt as one word.

mattacular
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  • Thanks, just concerned about this: http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/definitions/bi-vs-semi-weeklymonthlyannually/ and http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/difficulties/bisemi.html It says: Bi- comes from the Latin meaning two. When used with a temporal word, bi- means "every two" or "every other." Does that affect the meaning? – Steward Godwin Jornsen Mar 02 '13 at 21:11
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    Every two years is biennially. – Andrew Leach Mar 02 '13 at 21:21
  • I was actually looking for every 6 months. Thanks for the response Andrew. @mattacular, I'm thinking towards the same line if I don't get a better suggestion. – Steward Godwin Jornsen Mar 02 '13 at 21:23
  • @StewardGodwinJornsen I was pointing out that biannually is fine because the other word (for every two years) is biennial. I wasn't suggesting biennial for your requirement. – Andrew Leach Mar 02 '13 at 21:29
  • Okay, I get. That should mean two years then, not half of it. I wish I had a word like that for it. It's such an important time division to not have a word (latin, aramaic or something)! – Steward Godwin Jornsen Mar 02 '13 at 22:06
  • I appreciate all the help here. Now, Since the question has been marked as duplicate, *Do I have to delete this question to avoid down votes* or leave it in case others might need it -- and suffer the consequences of a down vote? – Steward Godwin Jornsen Mar 03 '13 at 10:50
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    A more clearer word would be *Semi-annually – kumarharsh Mar 09 '16 at 08:28