Is there a prefix that indicates that an event recurs four times a year?

Question

"Semi-annually" describes an event that recurs every 6 months. Is there a similar term for an event that recurs every 3 months? (I'm guessing that "semi-semi-annually" isn't the correct answer.)

More importantly, is there a resource or table somewhere that I can use in the future to construct prefixes for other intervals shorter than a year?

Note that if you wished to employ multiple prefixes the relevant analogy would be in music: quaver, semiquaver, demisemiquaver, hemidemisemiquaver. That is, you would not repeat semi- but add demi-. — MetaEd, Jan 18 '13 at 18:03

score 36 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 23 '12 at 05:00

36

This is not exactly a prefix but the word does indeed refer to an event that occurs four times a year. And the word is "Quarterly".

answered Jan 23 '12 at 05:00

jokerdino

434

This got you so many upboats?? why was i not here earlier?? sobs – Mahesh Jun 21 '12 at 15:45
2

Blame George Edison. :P – jokerdino Jun 21 '12 at 15:48

score 5 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 23 '12 at 12:57

5

More importantly, is there a resource or table somewhere that I can use in the future to construct prefixes for other intervals shorter than a year?

Not really, because commonly used ones are often exceptions to rules. However, you now have a good set:

Annually (and the multiplicators)
Bianually
Quarterly
Monthly (there should be a word for every two months)
Fortnightly
Weekly

...

Now you only have problems if you need to define every 6 weeks or suchlike.

edited Jan 23 '12 at 12:57

Kate Gregory

9,671

answered Jan 23 '12 at 10:20

Schroedingers Cat

3,632

4

Sesquimonthly would be a close approximation for 6 weeks. – zzzzBov Jan 23 '12 at 14:43
@zzzzBov - I think using that in normal conversation might prove interesting. There are words for a range of different periods, but whether they actually work in communication is another matter. – Schroedingers Cat Jan 23 '12 at 15:25
1

When the purpose is for unambiguous communication, "6 weeks" would obviously be the preferred descriptor. Not all language is meant to be unambiguous simple communication; poetry and music often choose words with a richer meaning. – zzzzBov Jan 23 '12 at 15:30
1

There's potentially confusion around biannual; also consider semiannual. – josh3736 Jan 23 '12 at 15:48
@zzzzBov I am not saying that you are wrong, just that, as you point out, the aim is clear communication. – Schroedingers Cat Jan 23 '12 at 16:55
there should be a word for every two months - You can use the word bimonthly but it can also mean twice a year which can be confusing. – Alex Jasmin Jan 23 '12 at 20:19
@AlexandreJasmin - I agree. That was why I didn't use it. I wanted bilunally or similar, but that was too obscure! – Schroedingers Cat Jan 23 '12 at 20:50
Biweekly for every two weeks (or fortnightly if you aren't in the USA). Bimonthly for every two months. Trimonthly would be a possibility, but 'quarterly' is a better choice. – Jonathan Leffler Jan 26 '12 at 18:13

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 23 '12 at 10:50

0

If

quarterly

doesn't suffice,

tri-monthly

is probably closest in spirit to "semi-annually" (although I would prefer "biannual" to this anyway)

You should be able to construct such a table reasonably easily.

weekly           every week
bi-weekly        every two weeks
tri-weekly       every three weeks
monthly          every month
bi-monthly       every two months
tri-monthly      every three months
biannual         every six months

etc.

answered Jan 23 '12 at 10:50

tdc

291

2

biweekly ( and monthly ) as well as tri- suffer from a confusion between meaning every two weeks, or twice a week. I would be very reluctant to use them. – Schroedingers Cat Jan 23 '12 at 15:27
Why on earth would you correctly apply bi- and tri- all the way through, then botch it on biannual? – Atario Oct 18 '23 at 00:50

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 23 '12 at 17:59

0

A smattering of people are using the term semibiannual online to designate one quarter of the year.

answered Jan 23 '12 at 17:59

Thomas Raywood

337

Mustafa · Answer 5 · 2012-01-23T08:52:02.183

-2

You might make use of Latin prefix quadri- quadru- E.g

Quadrennial

edited Jan 23 '12 at 08:52

answered Jan 23 '12 at 08:43

Mustafa

4,685

8

Quadrennial means "every four years", like biennial means "every two years". Since biannual means "twice a year" (well, according to most people...), you might get away with quadriannual... – lonesomeday Jan 23 '12 at 09:06
@lonesomeday, both quadri- and quadru- means: four or four times. Longman – Mustafa Jan 23 '12 at 09:41
3

@George Edison, you may also use "trimonthly" – Mustafa Jan 23 '12 at 09:55
1

@Mustafa, the issue isn't the "quadri-" it's the "ennial" vs "annual". The former uses the count for the number of years, the latter uses the count for the occurrences per year. – zzzzBov Jan 23 '12 at 14:45
@zzzzBov, could you please post a reference "annual" and "ennial" are different words and they are also different in meaning? – Mustafa Jan 23 '12 at 14:56
@Mustafa, I can do one better I can simply link you to the definition of quadrennial. "Quadannual" isn't really used, because we say "quarterly". I can find results for "quadannuallly", however. – zzzzBov Jan 23 '12 at 15:23

Is there a prefix that indicates that an event recurs four times a year?

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