▪ I. semester
(sɪˈmɛstə(r))
[a. G. semester, ad. L. (cursus) sēmēstris (period) of six months, f. sē-, sex six + mēns-is month.]
A period or term of six months, esp. in German and U.S. universities and colleges, the college half-year.
| 1827 Lancet 17 Nov. 251/2 The student..attends it daily during two semesters. 1852 H. Rogers Ecl. Faith (1864) 146 A young Englishman..fresh from Germany, after sundry semesters at Bonn and Tübingen. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. III. cii. 450 Graduates who..spend a semester or two at a German university. 1895–6 Cal. Univ. Nebraska 33 The year is divided upon the semester plan. Each semester has eighteen weeks. |
▪ II. semester
obs. form of sempster.