biweekly

English

Etymology

bi- + week + -ly

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• enPR: bī.wēk'lē, IPA: /baɪˈwiːkli/, SAMPA: /baI"wi:kli/
• Rhymes: -iːk.li

Adjective

biweekly (not comparable)

1. Occurring once every two weeks.
2. (chiefly UK) Occurring twice a week (but see the Usage notes).

Usage notes

Like bimonthly and biennially, but unlike biannually, in the adjective and adverb senses, the prefix bi- applies to the week rather than to the events that occur, therefore giving the sense of “every two weeks”. Since the term is also used in the UK to mean “twice a week”, it is ambiguous there. In British English, for the sake of clarity, it is advisable to use one of the synonyms instead.

Synonyms

• (occurring once every two weeks): fortnightly
• (occurring twice a week): twice-weekly, semiweekly

Translations

occurring every two weeks

French: bimensuel (fr) German: alle zwei Wochen (de)

Spanish: quincenal (es)

occurring twice a week

French: bihebdomadaire (fr) German: zweiwöchentlich (de)

Italian: bisettimanale (it) Spanish: biseminal (es)

Adverb

biweekly (not comparable)

1. Every two weeks.
2. (chiefly UK) Twice a week (but see the Usage notes).

Synonyms

• (every two weeks): fortnightly
• (twice a week): twice weekly, semi-weekly

Translations

every two weeks

French: toutes les deux semaines, tous les quinze jours Galician: cada dúas semanas, quincenal (this last one actually means every 15 days, but it could be used depending of the situation) German: alle zwei Wochen, zweiwöchentlich Italian: ogni due settimane

Portuguese: uma vez a cada duas semanas Russian: раз в две недели (ru) (raz v dve nedeli), каждые две недели (ru) (kazhdye dve nedeli) Spanish: cada dos semanas, quincenal (this last one actually means every 15 days, but it could be used depending of the situation)

twice a week

French: bihebdomadairement, deux fois par semaine Galician: dúas veces por semana German: zweimal pro Woche Italian: due volte alla settimana

Portuguese: duas vezes por semana Russian: два раза в неделю (ru) (dva raza v nedelyu), дважды в неделю (ru) (dvazhdy v nedelyu) Spanish: dos veces por semana

See also

• semiweekly
• fortnightly (UK)

Noun

biweekly (plural biweeklies)

1. Something that is published or released once every two weeks.

   The local paper is a biweekly.

Translations

something published or released once every two weeks

French: bimensuel (fr) m., quinzomadaire (fr) m.

Usage notes

Unlike with bimonthly and biannually, in the adjective and adverb senses, the prefix bi- applies to the week rather than to the events that occur, therefore giving the sense of “every two weeks”. Since the term is also used in the UK to mean “twice a week”, it is ambiguous there. For the sake of clarity, it is advisable to use one of the synonyms instead.