Semi-colon or semicolon?
semi-colon is a noun meaning “Alternative form of semicolon”; semicolon is a noun meaning “The punctuation mark ”. semi-colon is written with a hyphen and semicolon as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between semi-colon and semicolon?
| semi-colon | semicolon | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | Alternative form of semicolon | The punctuation mark ; |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | semi-colons | semicolons, semicola |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˌsɛmiˈkəʊlən/ /-ˈkəʊlɒn/ /ˈsɛmikoʊlən/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | about once in every 3 million words |
Sources: semi-colon and semicolon in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of semi-colon and semicolon
semi-colon
- 1
Alternative form of semicolon
semicolon
- 1
The punctuation mark ;
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, semi-colon or semicolon?
semi-colon is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; semicolon about once in every 3 million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search semi-colon vs semicolon?
“semi-colon vs semicolon” is searched about 10 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“semicolon vs semi-colon”, “semi-colon or semicolon”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.