Synonyms and Antonyms for biweekly Accounting Services

Biweekly pay means you pay your employees on a set day once every two weeks, resulting in 26 paychecks per year. Employees receive their biweekly pay every other Friday. Although it’s mostly used to refer to a “twice monthly” occurrence, it’s important to provide context when using this word to explain which definition you’re using. Another synonym for biweekly is https://amperamakine.com/california-learning-resources-network/ semiweekly, which means “twice a week.” The prefix semi- means half or partially.

Biweekly means both, but most American English speakers use it to refer to something occurring every other week or twice monthly. Biweekly means twice a week or once every other week, though it’s more commonly used to refer to the latter. Although not as commonly used, biweekly may also refer to a magazine or newspaper that publishes once every two weeks. A biweekly meeting with your manager takes place once every two weeks unless otherwise specified. So, the answer to the question “Does biweekly mean twice a week or every two weeks?

I often explore 30 natural ways to replace biweekly, whether for a casual chat with friends or crafting poetry. The frequency of these is critical, and one term that comes up a lot is biweekly. Comprehensive resource for word definitions and usage Molly had told her a hundred times, and she still fielded the questions on a biweekly basis.

Other Ways to Say “Biweekly” ( With Examples)

Some employers pay hourly semimonthly employees current (for 86.67 hours) and estimate overtime then they make adjustments on the next pay period. Most months have two pay periods, but two months of the year will have three. This does not happen with a semimonthly payroll, which always happens 24 times per year. This might sound simple, but that means for two months out of the year, you’ll have three pay periods instead of two. Once you start the year, you’ll pay your employees once every two weeks.

Meaning of biweekly in English

• Support us by sharing “synonyms for biweekly” page!
• Add biweekly to one of your lists below, or create a new one.
• It’s important to provide context as to which definition you’re using when developing a meeting agenda or other documents for other people.
• A semiweekly meeting, on the other hand, occurs twice a week.
• For example, the employee may receive payment for 12 days during one pay period and 13 days the next.
• Because payday occurs once every two weeks, some months will have three paychecks.

Payday is typically the same day of the week, such as a Wednesday or Friday for a pay period that ended the previous week. Additionally, your employees will be happy to be paid more often (as opposed to monthly or semimonthly). You will need to make sure you have enough money in your payroll account to cover the additional expenses. Most states have payday laws, which mandate how often employees should be paid.

According to Google Ngram Viewer, “biweekly” is the most popular choice for native writers. “Biweekly” works best when it’s written as one word. Because weeks are of fixed length and months are not, bi-weekly (ie. every two week) publications can’t possibly fall on the 1st and 15th of every month. When you pay employees every other week, this is considered bi-weekly pay. Because payday occurs once every two weeks, some months will have three paychecks. Many people think that since bifurcating (or bisecting) something divides it, then biweekly must mean to divide the week; but they misunderstand the derivation of the word.

British people use the word fortnight—which derives from the old English word for “fourteen nights”—to refer to events that occur once every two weeks. Hyphens are not used after the prefix bi- unless the root word starts with the letter I. Biweekly may also be used as a noun to describe a newspaper or magazine that prints once every two weeks. So while most people use it to mean once every two weeks, both definitions are grammatically correct.

• However, the example for bi-weekly given (“This magazine is published bi-weekly, on the 1st and 15th of the month.”) is I think incorrect.
• This highlights the subtle difference between the bi- and semi- prefix when applied to a temporal word.
• So, the answer to the question “Does biweekly mean twice a week or every two weeks?
• Biweekly pay means you pay your employees on a set day once every two weeks, resulting in 26 paychecks per year.
• To allow enough time for payroll processing, the pay period ending date for a semimonthly hourly payroll may be earlier than for a biweekly hourly payroll.
• None of them are written with a hyphen, and the same applies to “biweekly.”

Synonyms for bi-weeklybi-week·ly

The two-word variation, “bi weekly” is never correct. However, the example for bi-weekly given (“This magazine is published bi-weekly, on the 1st and 15th of the month.”) is I think incorrect. Since some months have 31 days and others have 30, a semimonthly hourly employee may sometimes receive payment for different number of days.

What Does “Biweekly” Mean? Definition and Examples

Matches will be biweekly with all schools competing at the same shared location. Because of the higher costs, Tencer said she has cut therapy from weekly to biweekly sessions. Beth DeCarbo wrote Counting House, the Mansion section’s biweekly column about the personal finances of owning a home. If you like to capitalize every other word in your title, then it’s wise to capitalize both parts of the hyphen too. However, some people think that since “bi-” is a prefix rather than a word, there is no reason to keep the hyphen as part of it.

Learn a new word every day.

Biweekly can mean either twice per week or once every two weeks, depending on context. Some people refer to once every two weeks, others to twice a week, so it’s vital to avoid uncertainty. Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. According to the AP Stylebook, you should always hyphenate two or more words when they modify the same noun. We do not typically need to include a hyphen after a prefixed form like “bi-.” Hourly employees automatically know their hourly rate, but salaried employees might not, and sometimes they need this information.

There are times, however, when a biweekly meeting on your work schedule may occur twice a week. Add biweekly to one of your lists below, or create a new one. Support us by sharing “synonyms for biweekly” page! “biweekly.” Synonyms.com. How do I make sure people understand what I mean by ‘biweekly’? biweekly synonym “Biweekly” can mean either twice a week or once every two weeks, depending on the context, which is why it often leads to confusion.

To allow enough time for payroll processing, the pay period ending date for a semimonthly hourly payroll may be earlier than for a biweekly hourly payroll. A semimonthly payroll requires less payroll processing than a biweekly payroll since it happens only 24 times per year. The extra two paychecks for biweekly pay frequencies can set your business back if you don’t properly prepare for months with three paychecks. While biweekly is one of the most commonly confused words with the bi- prefix, it’s not the only one. Spell out the frequency clearly in writing—use phrases like “every other Tuesday” or “twice per week” rather than relying on the term “biweekly” alone. “Semiweekly” specifically means twice a week, while “biweekly” might mean twice a week or once every two weeks, so it’s important to clarify your meaning.

For full-time hourly workers, each paycheck accounts for roughly 80 work hours. I agree that dictionaries should seek to guard against this, but word misuse isn’t illegal, much as we might lament it. The prefix bi- can also be found in bicentennial, which means the 200th anniversary of something. Biannual is more straightforward, as it’s only used to mean twice a year.

Semimonthly means your employees get paid on two specific days of the month, regardless of when they fall. At the current rate, in another years, bi-weekly may mean a few times a week, every several weeks or anything in between. If I tried to sell bi-weekly as twice a week (semi-weekly) when I was in elementary/middle school years ago, I’d currently be the oldest 5th grader on the planet. This highlights the subtle difference between the bi- and semi- prefix when applied to a temporal word.

Thankfully, with so many accurate and expressive options—from “every other week” to “twice in seven days”—you can tailor your word choice to your exact audience and setting, without relying on vague or potentially misleading terminology. “Every other week” or “every couple of weeks” work beautifully in casual speech or friendly writing. It’s precise and avoids the ambiguity of “biweekly.” Perfect for schedules and publications.