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half-term

half-term

1 2.1
A short school holiday about halfway through a term
  • noun
  • /ˈhɑːfˌtɜːm/
  • UK
translation icon : vacaciones de mitad de trimestre
  • Next week is half-term, so we're planning a family trip to the beach.

And this again seems to coincide with the half term break and coming back after that.

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Examples

  • Have a good half-term, sir!

  • It's half-term in two days.

  • Lots of schools were off last week, so it has felt like half term has been a long time coming!

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  • First day of half term.

    Blog text (10)
  • Finally, half term has arrived!

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  • Next week is half term, so a few days are planned in Plymouth with Peter.

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  • Well, today was the first day back at school after half term (a week's break in the school term), and it was worse than ever.

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  • D needs the half-term break; she's very tired, and this reflected in school this morning.

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  • It also coincided with half term and lots of mixing of families in relatively small spaces.

    ZOE
  • I was hoping to get back into the swing of things after the half-term holiday (women's groups, book group meeting, etc.), but we have had our granddaughter off school ill and with us during the day.

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Surface Forms

half-term singular
half-terms plural
half terms plural
half term singular

Morphology

half-term = half + term (semi-transparent) = half + term

The components 'half' and 'term' are clear, but the specific meaning of a school holiday is a specialized usage.

Etymology

Half-term joins half ('half') and term ('a school period'), so it simply means a short holiday that comes 'halfway through' a school term, especially in British schools.