Why isn't each half of a sport season called a semester?

[bagasme]

Hi,

In education, I often hear about semesters, which are each halves of an academic year (the first one is from July to December and the second one is from January to June).

However, I never hear about that term in sport seasons: that is each halves of a sport season are just called halves.

So why is the term semester never used in sports, as opposed to education?

 

[wukunlin]

Hi,

In education, I often hear about semesters, which are each halves of an academic year (the first one is from July to December and the second one is from January to June).

However, I never hear about that term in sport seasons: that is each halves of a sport season are just called halves.

So why is the term semester never used in sports, as opposed to education?

I suppose it is like how we rarely hear about extra times in education and almost always call them extensions.

 

[phyzguy]

As one who has learned several languages, one lesson I've learned is that it is pointless to ask "why" in regards to language usage. Languages are not designed, they just evolve. So there is no answer to your "why" question other than, "that's just the way we say it."

 

[russ_watters]

However, I never hear about that term in sport seasons: that is each halves of a sport season are just called halves.

So why is the term semester never used in sports, as opposed to education?

Because that's not what the word means.

 

[Roberto Teso]

Because the word semester comes from the Latin semestris, made up of sex, the number six, and mensis months, thus indicating half a year and not half of any other time unit.

Source: https://treccani.it/vocabolario/semestre/

For any not italian, Treccani is our greatest encyclopaedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treccani