semi

The prefix semi- (from Latin) used as a noun.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛmi/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛmi/, /ˈsɛmaɪ/

• Audio (General Australian):

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• Audio (UK):

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• Rhymes: -ɛmi
• Hyphenation: semi

semi (plural semis)

1. (UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada, informal) A semi-detached house.
   • 2008, Elliott Placks, quoted in Helen Isbister, Morris Bryant, Property, Career FAQs, Australia, page 40,

     I′m selling two side-by-side semis that are currently under construction, a waterfront apartment and a house in Rose Bay.

   • 2008, Barry Goodchild, Homes, Cities and Neighbourhoods: Planning and the Residential Landscapes of Modern Britain, page 52:

     The smaller semis of the 1920s and 1930s were closely related to the three bedroom pre-1919 narrow fronted terraces, at least to the larger pre-1919 terraces.

   • 2012, Tim Moore, You Are Awful (But I Like You): Travels Around Unloved Britain, Vintage, →ISBN, page 150:

     The roads were lined with cramped little semis and 1960s bungalows: Britain's cheapest houses, in their flimsy, pebble-dashed glory.

3. (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, US) A semi-trailer; a tractor-trailer; an eighteen-wheeler; an artic.
   • 1967, Tommy Faile, “Phantom 309”, performed by Red Sovine:

     I was hungry an' freezin' an' done caught a chill / When the lights of a big semi topped the hill

   • 2011, Eamonn Duff, Schapelle Corby: The Untold Story Behind Her Ill-Fated Drug Run, Australia: Allen & Unwin, unnumbered page:

     All night we couldn′t hear each other speak because of the sound of semis changing gear to get over the hill.

4. (informal) A semifinal.
5. (slang) A partial erection of the penis.
   • 2010, Mickey Erlach, Video Boys, page 158:

     The twink got a semi just from that look.

6. (slang) A semiautomatic firearm.
   • 2023 April 28, “Got Dat Muneh” (track 10, 0:48 from the start), in Summrs (lyrics), GHOST‎^[1]:

     See these niggas through the reticle sight up on my semi
     […]
     For niggas plottin', I might blow it at your fitted
     Get your bitch-ass slimed out, it ain't no kiddin'
     Ain't no kiddin', got that semi

7. (slang, finance) Semiconductor companies or positions in the stock market.
8. (colloquial, mining) An intermediate in the production of end-use goods.
   • 2025 April 1, Dorjdari Namkhaijantsan, Zoljargal Naranbaatar, “Copper and the energy transition”, in Copper Sector Expansion in Mongolia: Opportunities and Challenges‎^[2], Natural Resource Governance Institute, page 13 of 10–26:

     Mining companies crush and grind the extracted ore, and then use flotation processes to produce copper concentrates, which typically contain up to 30 percent copper. These concentrates are then smelted to produce copper blister, which has a purity of up to 99 percent. The blister is further refined to produce copper cathode, or pure copper, with a grade of around 99.99 percent. This process is known as pyrometallurgy, and is suitable for sulfide ores as opposed to oxide ores. The pure copper then feeds into the fabrication of various copper products, such as wire rods, wires, bars, and sheets—collectively known as semis—used as inputs in the manufacturing of end-use products, including consumer goods and construction, transportation (e.g., EVs) and infrastructure components.

semi (not comparable)

1. (informal) Somewhat; to some extent.
   • 2013, Mark Morris, The Secret of Anatomy:

     'Is that a serious question?' he asked.
     Ralph shrugged with his face, jutting out his bottom lip. 'Well ... semi,' he said.

• EMIs, ESMI, IMEs, MSIE, Meis, Sime, eSIM, mise

From semo +‎ -i.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsemi/

• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -emi
• Syllabification: se‧mi

semi (present semas, past semis, future semos, conditional semus, volitive semu)

1. (intransitive) to sow

• dissemi (“scatter; disseminate”)

See semi-. Sense "semi-erection" a semantic loan from English semi.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsemi/, [ˈs̠e̞mi]
• Rhymes: -emi
• Syllabification^(key): se‧mi
• Hyphenation^(key): se‧mi

semi (comparative semimpi, superlative semein) (predicative only, colloquial)

1. mid, mediocre, not bad, not good

   No se esitys oli aika semi. ― Well, the show was just okay

semi (not comparable) (attributive only, colloquial)

1. sort of, kind of, pretty

   Synonyms: aika, jokseenkin, melko

   semi ookoo ― pretty okay

   semi paska ― kind of shit

semi (colloquial)

1. semi, partial tumescence

   Synonym: puolierektio

• “semi”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

From Malay semi (“shoot, sprout”).

• Semantic loan from Javanese ꦱꦼꦩꦶ (semi, “sprouting”).

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /səˈmi/ [səˈmi]
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: se‧mi

sêmi (plural semi-semi)

1. shoot, sprout

   Synonyms: taruk, tunas

2. (dialect) sprouting

• “semi”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

semi m

1. plural of seme

• mesi, mise

semi

1. Rōmaji transcription of せみ
2. Rōmaji transcription of セミ

semi

1. alternative form of semen (“to sort out”)

semi

1. third-person active present subjunctive of semja

semi

1. first-person singular present/imperative active of seti (“to sleep”)

Clipping of semifinal.

semi f (plural semis)

1. (colloquial) semifinal, semi-final

   Synonym: semifinal

   • 2022 March 19, Alberto Rubio, “El Chelsea se mete en semis de FA Cup y manda un 'aviso' al Real Madrid”, in Marca‎^[4]:
   • 2022 March 16, Aimara G. Gil, “El Barcelona sigue intratable y se mete en semis con otra goleada”, in As‎^[5]:
   • 2021 August 19, Lautaro Tiburzio, “No habrá cuarteto de brasileños en semis: Barcelona eliminó a Fluminense”, in Bolavip‎^[6], archived from the original on 29 August 2021:

• Audio (Kenya):

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semi

1. plural of usemi

semi c

1. clipping of semifinal

semi

1. masculine plural of semo