Why are there two different meanings for bimonthly?

Question

occurring every two years or twice a month.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bimonthly

Answer 1

a----occurring every 2 months

b----occurring  twice a month

Answer 2

there are NOT 2 meanings!

bimonthly means once every 2 months.

beweekly means once every 2 weeks (think: "I get paid biweekly.")

if you mean twice a month or twice a week, you should use the terms semimonthly or semiweekly.

people just *think* there are 2 meanings because the term is easily confused and folks don't realize that they should be using the semi- prefix.

Answer 3

Main Entry:

    1bi·month·ly Listen to the pronunciation of 1bimonthly

Pronunciation:

    \(ˌ)bÄ«-ˈmən(t)th-lē\

Function:

    adjective

Date:

    1845

1 : occurring every two months 2 : occurring twice a month : semimonthly

Answer 4

"bi" in Latin means "twice"or "doubly", so "bi-monthly" can mean 'twice' a month, or two months (doubled). It's best to say "bi-monthly" to mean "every two months" and "semi-monthly" to mean "twice a month".

Answer 5

Because it can mean 2 things? A lot of words have two meanings (they are similar). Thats just the way the english language functions

Answer 6

I have to disagree with a (free) dictionary that says there are two meanings. They may both be in popular usage but one is incorrect. English has many words with multiple meanings but it's normally easy to tell which is correct from the context. In this case it would be impossible without further explanation.

Bimonthly means once every two months, or every second month.

Biweekly (or fortnightly) means twice (two times) in one month.

Biennially is once every two years, or every second year, and biannually is twice (two times) in one year.