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Is there a word that means "a span of six months"? That is, I want to connote a stretch of time that lasts half a year, not an event that happens every six months.

fmark
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  • Could you give the sentence you intend to use this in? – Andrew Leach Sep 14 '12 at 09:09
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    That sounds like about a dozen fortnights. :^) I have to ask, though, what's wrong with, say, a six-month labor dispute, or a half-year labor dispute? – J.R. Sep 14 '12 at 09:41
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    Side note: In German we have the adjectives "halbjährig" for something lasting half a year and "halbjährlich" for something happening every half year. Its formed regularly, so "viertel-" for "quarter" can be used or the prefix can be omitted entirely for the full year. It also works with every other timespan (month, week, day, ...), always with "-lich" meaning recurrance and "-ig" meaning passed time. I'm really missing something like this in English. – I'm with Monica Sep 14 '12 at 10:58
  • @AlexanderKosubek Depending on context, -ly can serve as the recurring form (daily, monthly, 6-monthly, etc). – Lawrence Feb 22 '18 at 07:38
  • @Lawrence Yes, that's why it is an issue. Context is needed, the information is not encoded in the word itself. – I'm with Monica Feb 22 '18 at 07:41
  • @AlexanderKosubek My apologies. The -ly forms are pretty standard. It’s the base form that’s more context-dependent. Eg: a 2-month checkup probably doesn’t last 2 months, but a 2-monthly checkup is definitely a periodic checkup. – Lawrence Feb 22 '18 at 07:47

5 Answers5

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half year noun

1: one half of a year (as January to June or July to December)
2: one of two academic terms : semester

— half–yearly adverb or adjective
Origin of half year: ME

See also:
'Half-year convention' is a principle of United States taxation law.

Kris
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  • Thanks for this, I think it fixed my issue with this: http://english.stackexchange.com/q/105869/38613. I never knew this existed. I also accepted the answer biannually there too. I think half year makes sense and half-yearly (I guess it needs an hyphen) does it. – Steward Godwin Jornsen Mar 03 '13 at 13:03
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The SAS (originally Statistical Analysis System) coins semiyear

( http://www.okstate.edu/sas/v8/saspdf/ets/chap3.pdf ), but this is hardly common usage.

Surely fmark takes pains to indicate that the adjective biannual (or, less ambiguous, semiannual) is not what he wants.

Edwin Ashworth
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Use within.

Examples:

  1. You should receive a reply within seven days.
  2. Two elections were held within the space of a year.

Reference: Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Mori
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    All your answer does is add another word to the phrase that OP is wishing to shorten. – Souta Sep 14 '12 at 18:07
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You could use the word "a semester", I don't know if it goes well with what you are writting but for me that's a period of 6 months

heyaaa
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You can try "six-month event".

RegDwigнt
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user1639637
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