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.

Words that may be confused with semiannual

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.

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.

When to Use Biennial

ABC’s management decides it will distribute a dividend of $0.50 for every share. A ten-year general obligation bond was issued by Ohio Pty Ltd in January 2019, the bond will pay interest on a semi-annual basis until the maturity of the bond in December 2029. Biennial is often confused with bi-annual, which means the same thing as semi-annual, it is something that happens twice a year.

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.

However, just because an event is held semiannually doesn’t mean that occurrences have to be biannual vs semiannual 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.

Definition of ‘Biannual’: What Does It Mean?

Much of our research comes from leading organizations in the climate space, such as Project Drawdown and the International Energy Agency (IEA). Biennial is an adjective meaning “takes place every two years.” It means that a recurring event happens one year, then misses a year, and takes place again the following year, and so on. In a botanical context, “biennial” can be both an adjective to describe that a plant has a two-year lifecycle and a noun to refer to plants with a lifecycle of two years. Biannual is very close in pronunciation and spelling to the word biennial.

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.

For example, a company could have company parties semiannually, a couple could celebrate their marriage semiannually, a family could go on vacation semiannually. The articles and research support materials available on this site are educational and are not intended to be investment or tax advice. Advisory services provided by Carbon Collective Investment LLC (“Carbon Collective”), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Go a level deeper with us and investigate the potential impacts of climate change on investments like your retirement account. Semiannual means occurring twice a year, the adverb form is semiannually.

Final Advice on ‘Semiannual’ vs ‘Biannual’

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.

Mark’s company often purchases large amounts of inventory to fill construction demands. Semi is a prefix, and American English tends to use prefixes before the base word without a space or hyphen. On the other hand, British English favors joining the prefix to another word using a hyphen. Biannual means “twice a year,” as does semiannual, whereas biennial means “occurring every two years.”

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.

• People look forward to semiannual sales because they only come around every six months.
• Businesses can decide how they would like to pay dividends to their shareholders, they do have the option to pay no dividends.
• This means the bond would make an interest payment twice a year, usually six months apart.
• Also, you may see this word with a hyphen, semi-annual, or written as two words with a space between each, semi annual.

Let’s look at Jane’s Travel, Jane borrows $100,000 from the bank with a 6% semi-annual interest payment. If a semi-annual interest rate of 6% is calculated per year, it would mean that the overall interest rate that you will pay is 12%. “Biannual” is an adjective used to describe events occurring twice a year. In order to fully understand this term, we need to know where it derives from. The prefix “bi-,” meaning twice, comes from Latin, while “annual” refers to one year.

• 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.
• Such sales are often held at around the same time every year, such as in March and September.
• It is important to know if this 5% is paid annually or semiannually to understand the payment you would receive as the bondholder.
• Biennial is an adjective which means occurring every two years, or every other year.

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.

It is rare that corporations publish financial statements only semiannually. They do, however, publish an annual report, which per the definition, occurs once every year. Investors who purchase the bonds will receive interest payments every six months for the time period. In this example, interest will be paid to shareholders on 30 June and 31 December every year until the maturity of the bond. Ohio Pty Ltd will have to publish a semi-annual report on its finances.

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 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.