| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
| |
| bi–1 |
| |
| VARIANT FORMS: | or bin– |
| PREFIX: | 1a. Two: biform. b. Both: binaural. c. Both sides, parts, or directions: biconcave. 2a. Occurring at intervals of two: bicentennial. b. Usage Problem Occurring twice during: biweekly. 3a. Containing twice the proportion of a specified chemical element or group necessary for stability: bicarbonate. b. Containing two chemical atoms, radicals, or groups: biphenyl. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Latin bis, bi-, twice, and b n, two by two; see dwo- in Appendix I. | | USAGE NOTE: | Bimonthly and biweekly mean “once every two months” and “once every two weeks.” For “twice a month” and “twice a week,” the words semimonthly and semiweekly should be used. Since there is a great deal of confusion over the distinction, a writer is well advised to substitute expressions like every two months or twice a month where possible. However, each noun form has only one sense in the publishing world. Thus, a bimonthly is published every two months, and a biweekly every two weeks.
| | |
| |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
|
|
