Semi is also a prefix to make a word mean half-of, partially, having some characteristics of, or quasi.

A semi is a large truck, which consists of a tractor and a trailer. They tend to carry a large amount of freight over a large distance, and semi drivers tend to have CB Radios which they use to warn other truckers about speed traps. You usually need a special license to legally drive a semi. Semi's don't necessarily have 18 wheels; there are smaller ones that have less.

van |

In UK regional usage, "semi" is short for "semi-detached house", that is one of a pair of houses that form a single building but provide two residences. Imagine a single, detached house split vertically in half. The two sides form a mirror-image pair of semis. Generally found alongside other similar houses in a street. However, in rural areas, may be found in splendid isolation.

In broad terms, a semi is more expensive than a terraced, cheaper than a detached.

selvage = S = semi-automated

semi /se'mee/ or /se'mi:/

1. n. Abbreviation for `semicolon', when speaking. "Commands to grind are prefixed by semi-semi-star" means that the prefix is ;;*, not 1/4 of a star. 2. A prefix used with words such as `immediately' as a qualifier. "When is the system coming up?" "Semi-immediately." (That is, maybe not for an hour.) "We did consider that possibility semi-seriously." See also infinite.

--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.