What are Biannual, Biennial, and Semiannual? Rules of Usage

However, just because an event is held semiannually doesn’t mean that occurrences have to be exactly six months apart. There is no difference between semiannual and biannual; they are synonyms and mean the same. Semiannual is generally used when an event happens twice a year and six months apart. Both terms are often confused with “biennial,” which means an event occurring every two years. All such information is provided solely for convenience purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly. For the sake of clarity, it would be best to avoid all of these terms and simply write twice a year or every other year.

The most common word you’ve probably seen is centennial, which means every 100 years, or millennial, which is a tech-savvy thirty-something who is probably running your IT department. Now, let’s put all the pieces together and remove some of the ambiguity. Semiannual does not fit any of these rules, so a hyphen is not necessary.

What’s the difference between ‘biannual’ and ‘semiannual’?

Be sure to check out more confusing word articles to stay sharp and feel confident entering other grammar debates. You can also read more about prefixes to expand your vocabulary and your knowledge of language history. To help clarify that these words can both mean the same thing and still have their separate meanings, here are some example sentences you can use as references. They may also help prepare you for when you encounter this dispute in your own conversations. The problem that most people encounter when using these words is that, in some cases, both terms are correct and mean the same thing.

It is commonly used in a financial context, such as how often bonds pay interest. The term can be confused with other similar-sounding terms, such as biennial, which means an event occurring every two years. It’s important to understand the differences to ensure you are understanding the financial impact of financial products, such as bonds and dividends. For example, a semiannual event could happen in January and July or June and December. In this example, if a bond pays semiannually, the bondholder would receive a payment in January or July, or June and December. Since the prefix semi- refers to half or part or something, you can use it to remind yourself that something that is semiannual only goes part of a year before happening again.

It is important to know if this 5% is paid annually or semiannually to understand the payment you would receive as the bondholder. Businesses can decide how they would like to pay dividends to their shareholders, they do have the option to pay no dividends. Explore the meanings of biannual and semiannual and when to use both terms. I’m not sure what word came first, semiannual or biannual, but, in the modern day, most people use semiannual to avoid any confusion that arises from biannual vs. biennial. In this article, I will clarify biannual vs. semiannual; as part of the discussion, I will include several examples of each word in a sentence to demonstrate its use in context. Company ABC has performed well in the last five years, continuously making a profit and growing earnings.

Semiannual means an event that happens twice a year, every six months. Mark is granted a loan with a compound interest rate, and the interest rate is payable semi-annually. Biannual, biennial, and semiannual are adjectives that describe the frequency at which events occur. To this end, best practice is to write around the confusion introduced by these terms. Since biannual and biennial are the real problem, writer Bryan Garner (2016) recommends that you avoid them entirely, and use every other year instead. Semiannual refers to events that occur twice every year, usually six months apart.

When to Use Biennial

Investors who buy these bonds will receive interest payments twice in each of those years; in this case, once in June and once in December. The words biannual and biyearly can be synonyms of semiannual, but they can also mean once every two years (every other year). Carbon Collective partners with financial and climate experts to ensure the accuracy of our content. People look forward to semiannual sales because they only come around every six months. Such sales are often held at around the same time every year, such as in March and September.

• Often, you will find competitions, contests, special events, or performances using “bi-annual” rather than semi-annual.
• Knowing that ‘semi-’ refers to something incomplete helps remind us that a ‘Semiannual’ event occurs twice in one year.
• In order to fully understand this term, we need to know where it derives from.
• While the debate may continue, you are now equipped to join the winning side in any situation.
• Since the prefix semi- refers to half or part or something, you can use it to remind yourself that something that is semiannual only goes part of a year before happening again.

When To Use Biennial

You also should know that “bi-annual” can also mean something that happens every other year, whereas semi-annual only has one meaning. The meanings of these words are so identical that many questions if there’s a difference between semi-annual vs. bi-annual. Semi-annual vs. bi-annual have nearly identical meanings that it can be head-scratching to know which one to use.

Words for the Wordy and Talking Too Much

• Sams Corporation decides to publish their financial statement on a semi-annual basis to coincide with the dividend payments.
• We follow ethical journalism practices, which includes presenting unbiased information and citing reliable, attributed resources.
• If a company’s fiscal year runs from January to December, the semiannual report would cover the company’s financials from January through June.
• Biannual is very close in pronunciation and spelling to the word biennial.
• Investors who buy these bonds will receive interest payments twice in each of those years; in this case, once in June and once in December.

For example, a company could have company parties semiannually, a couple could celebrate their marriage semiannually, and a family could go on vacation semiannually. You have been invited to a biannual event, but then later you see it referred to as a semiannual event. ABC’s management decides it will distribute a dividend of $0.50 for every share. Mark currently does not have the money to pay for the needed materials to meet his requests. Mark decides to take out a loan to cover the capital that he needs to fulfil the orders.

Writing Topics

Then check out words that look similar and have the same meaning but are used slightly differently, like preventive and preventative. Semi means “half,” so in the context of semiannual it literally means “half year” or every six months. Many resources on grammar and writing concede that these terms are so similar that you can use them interchangeably.

Get AI Writing Assistance Wherever You Type

Because these two words have different definitions, biannual can be more confusing to readers than semiannual. For this reason, many writers prefer to use semiannual over biannual. Biannual and semiannual are synonyms, which means that they have the same definition. Although some synonyms are similar with slight differences in implied meaning or usage, these two words are nearly interchangeable. Like biannual, semi-annual also means “happening twice each year.” However, semi-annual is slightly more specific than biannual. So, if you have a “semi-annual” event, it means there is a six-month gap between the two.

Also, you may see this word with a hyphen, semi-annual, or written as two words with a space between each, semi annual. At the end of the day, biannual and semiannual can be used interchangeably. However, remembering that biannual technically means “twice a year” and semiannual means “every half year” is a small but pivotal detail when you are deciding which word to use. Biannual is an adjective which means occurring twice a year, the adverb form is biannually. We believe that sustainable investing is not just an important climate solution, but a smart way to invest. We follow ethical journalism practices, which includes presenting unbiased information and citing reliable, attributed resources.

A semiannual financial report is a company’s unaudited financial report for the previous six months. If a company’s fiscal year runs from January to December, the semiannual report would cover the company’s financials from January through June. This would provide investors with insight into how the company has performed in the first half of the year and provide an indicator of how it may perform for the remainder of the year. It holds semiannual meetings in connection with the National Association, but is not a department of said Association. He has had steady two-quarts-a-day men, and men who were subject only to semiannual debauches.

Also, remember that “bi-annual” has a second meaning; it can also signify an event that happens every other year. Although you can often use either semi-annual or bi-annual, a good trick for remembering their differences is to look biannual vs semiannual at the meanings of each prefix. Use “semi-annual” if an event occurs precisely six months apart during the year. However, keep in mind that you can also use “bi-annual” to refer to something that happens twice a year. In this case, you won’t imply exact timing or if an event occurs precisely six months apart. I will also show you a memory tool that you can use next time you can’t remember whether you’re describing something that is biannual or semiannual.