Semifinal

How to spell semifinal

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce semifinal

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does semifinal mean?

1. nounA match or round of a competition immediately before the final, deciding which competitors reach it.
2. adjectiveRelating to the stage of a competition immediately before the final.

Semifinal in a sentence

• noun

  The home team lost the semifinal on penalties.

• adjective

  The semifinal round drew a record television audience.

• noun

  Two thousand fans queued for tickets to the semifinal.

• adjective

  Both clubs reached the semifinal stage for the first time.

Where does semifinal come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word joins two Latin-derived pieces. The prefix semi- comes straight from Latin and literally meant 'half', and English has long used it to mean 'half' or 'partly', as in semicircle. The second half, final, descends from the Latin finalis, meaning 'relating to the end', which was built on finis, the Latin noun for 'boundary' or 'end' (the same root that gives us finish and finite). Put together, a semifinal is the round that stands halfway between the earlier stages and the final itself. The compound is a relatively modern formation, emerging in the language of competitive sport during the late nineteenth century. The spelling is kept clean by remembering the two whole parts, semi and final, simply locked together with no hyphen and no doubled letters.

How the word is built

• semi- (half, partly)
• final (last, from Latin finalis 'of the end')