Re: Types of numerals

tomhchappell wrote:
> BTW: as an example of a false folk-etymology or back-formation;
> "semester" comes from a Latin phrase meaning "six months";
> "trimester" comes from a Latin phrase meaning "three months".
> But many people these days interpret the "sem" part of "semester" to
> mean "half", and decide "semester" means "half a year"
> and "trimester" means "a third of a year (i.e. four months)".
Probably in large part because the most common use of trimester is in
referring to stages of pregnancy, in which each trimester is 1/3 of the
gestation, so the idea of a trimester being a third of something
probably comes from that.