semi-

English

Etymology

From Latin semi- (“half”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɛmi/, /sɛmaɪ/, X-SAMPA: /sEmi/, /sEmaI/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Prefix

semi-

1. half
2. partial, incomplete
3. somewhat, rather, quasi-
   • 1994, Eric Bogosian, Pounding nails in the floor with my forehead

     Nothing like a nice hot ethnic dish before you go to see that semi-expensive, semi-meaningful Off-Broadway show.

Synonyms

• demi-
• half-
• hemi-

Derived terms

• semicategory
• semicircle
• semicolon
• semifinal
• semifunctor
• semigroupoid
• semiquaver
• semitone
• semivowel

Translations

half (prefix)

• Catalan: semi- (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 半- (cmn) (bàn-)

• Finnish: puoli- (fi)
• French: semi- (fr), demi- (fr), à moitié
• German: semi- (de), halb- (de)
• Greek: ημι- (el) (imi-) 
• Hebrew: חצי־ (he) (khatsí-)

• Italian: semi- (it), mezzo- (it)
• Japanese: 半- (ja) (はん-, han-)
• Malay: semi- (ms)
• Norwegian: halv- (no)
• Romanian: semi- (ro), demi- (ro), emi- (ro), hemi- (ro)
• Russian: полу- (ru) (polu-) , семи- (ru) (semi-) 
• Spanish: semi- (es), hemi- (es)
• Swedish: halv- (sv)

References

• Definition of semi - Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

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French

Prefix

semi-

1. semi-, demi-, half-

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Italian

Prefix

semi-

1. semi-, demi-, half-