Why can't we use 'halfly' to mean 'once every six months?'

Question

I've read other since-closed questions revolving more around taxonomy and best practice as it relates to this recurring problem.

But nothing on this one particular case seems to be in the archives, so I wanted to raise the question.

As in these instances:

The origin of my curiosity is in this list of recurrence types (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly...).

I work with companies that measure time by the day, week, month and quarter... and also by half a year.

My question then, why can't we just use "halfly" here?

It's not like it's not a word already- Merriam-Webster has it.

See “Is "halfly" a word? “https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/106570/is-halfly-a-word#:~:text=on%20this%20post.-,halfly,means%20full. — user 66974, Apr 26 '23 at 20:18
Also note that "quarterly" is related to a "quarter" which is commonly used to denote a quarter of a year, yet we don't have the same for "half". The other words you mention are adjectives or adverbs based on nouns that really only denote those specific times. — Joachim, Apr 26 '23 at 23:16
You can use it if you want; do you want other people to understand it? Will they work it out from the context? How quickly do you need them to understand it? — Stuart F, Apr 27 '23 at 08:20

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 26 '23 at 20:29

3

I do recommend to use semiannually to refer to a period of six month.

Halfly is a rare word, and as Merrian Webster suggests, it doesn’t refer to a period of time.

answered Apr 26 '23 at 20:29

user 66974

1

And combining annually plus semiannually equals sesquiannually for every year-and-a-half or 18 months, not to mention quasquiannually for every year-and-a-quarter or 15 months. :) – tchrist Apr 26 '23 at 21:06
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Is this really better than half-yearly, which is more immediately understandable (IMO)? – Stuart F Apr 27 '23 at 08:18
Same for biannual. – Graffito Apr 27 '23 at 16:01

1 Answers1