The closest word I can think of is “semi-daily,” but that is too specific. I'd prefer to describe, using a single word, the frequency of a particular event that happens more than once per day, although the number times is not significant and is not always the same.
If this is a rare opportunity for someone to make up a word, I welcome a suitable word from someone who is more qualified than I to create such a word.
Any ideas?
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the most appropriate morpheme combination I can think of would be hyperquotidian. But that sounds retarded so don't use it please.
Hourishly?
semi-daily-ish?
multi-diurnal
I like AO's "hyperquotidian." Or maybe "superquotidian" to stay latinate. Or how about "quotiensquotidian" or "pluriesquotidian" or "sepiusquotidian" (quotiens, pluries, sepius=often)? I like quotiensquotidian. It repeats the "quoti", just like the event repeats.
How about avoiding snobbishly nerdy sounding Graeco-Latin morphology and just making up something entirely new. That's what you wanted, right? An invented word? Whuthilly means 'more than daily.' Duh.
At first, I was going to suggest 'multi-daily', but that might imply an indeterminate time less often than once per day, not more often (i.e., multiple days between occurrences). Then I thought, we need a prefix that means fractionally less than one, but is indeterminate. How about 'part-', as in 'part-time'? What do you think of 'part-daily'?
Multi-daily gets my vote. It works as well as biweekly, which can mean twice a week or every other week.
How about dailish?
For me, the trouble with many of these suggestions (dailyish, dailish, part-daily, semi-daily[ish] etc) is that they are able to ambiguously suggest "less than daily" (but more than weekly) rather than "more than daily" (as in, two or more times a day). Is this a problem for anyone else? John points out that bi-weekly can mean twice a week or every other week, so this ambiguity already exists in words that we have. Is this ambiguity unavoidable?
hourly :)
ah, i should read the entire post… number of times a day is not often the same…
Do we have ANY words in English for activities that are undertaken on a non-regular basis? I don't believe we do.
Do we really need one word though? "Several times a day, sporadically."
AO, that's why I suggested part-daily. By analogy, Bi-weekly can mean either every other week, or twice per week, but semi-weekly unambiguously means twice per week. Thus, semi-daily would only mean twice per day, and part-daily, the unambiguous indeterminate version. By the way, while I don't have any particular support for this, I suspect that since semi-weekly can only mean twice per week, bi-weekly probably originally meant every other week only. The opposite definition probably came about later, first as a mis-use, then later becoming accepted. Note, the dictionary does list every other week first, which might suggest that it is the preferred definition.
What about going back to the basics such as frequently or often? I guess your specific request is to repor5t that you do it at least one a day if not more, and if so, I'm clueless.
Porsche-
Thanks for the clarification. I'm not sure I agree that semi-weekly unambiguously means twice per week. While it is true that "semi-" means "half" (implying that the event occurs every half week, or twice every week), I believe that this prefix can have a more general implication. I've heard people say things like "a semi-valid point," in other words, a point that is somewhat but not completely valid (as opposed to half-valid). This ambiguity is also illustrated by the word "other," which, in Old English carried the meaning "second." When we say, today, "I want the other one," we don't mean "I want the second one in a series."
Ok. The above is all very tangential to our topic. Apologies. I will now simply conclude by saying that I still find these traditional English affixes to be too ambiguous for productive use and that either an entirely new word should be invented, or a phrase be used to express this concept.
Whoah, too many hours bored at work. Ignore the above post as it is basically 100% irrelevant to anything whatsoever. Sorry.
Good point about semi- . I was originally going to just suggest semi-daily, on the notion that semi can mean a fraction, not necessarily half, but rejected it for being ambiguous and confusing. As for straying off on tangents, that's part of what makes this site so much fun to visit and post. Also, any topic that includes a plea to make up a word is inviting light-hearted replies.
Can't think of a single (individual) word. I agree with AO. How about "frequently, yet sparodically, on a daily basis" (kind of wordy) or "frequently each day" or "several times daily"??
Well, if we're just going to suggest a phrase, how about the much simpler "more than once per day", or, simpler still, "more than daily"?
Mas-per-diem
do you know a word that means more then most , like i say love you more she says love you most , i want to top that word ty
Well, she's already using "most" in its superlative sense, so technically she can't be topped, but if you want to try, you could say "I love you utmost". or "…uttermost". Technically, utmost is not an adverb, but I say go for it. You could also try a play on words by saying "I love you all", purposely misconstruing "most" to mean "nearly all", with "all" being more superlative. How about "I love you more than most"? That should get a laugh. If all else fails, you could say "I love you mostest".
The best words I can think of tie: "semi-intermittently" and "intermittently."
multi-diurnal.
…and ubermost
Oh my good God, I have never come across a site that puports to answer questions about English usage that is so full of (to use the vernacular) noobs.
Having trawled through several sites which try to help people understand the nuances of English, this site is the worst.
Some of you really need to go back to school to learn how English actually works rather than rely on the fact that because you consider yourself a native speaker of the language you are qualified to give advice. You are not.
Oh, by the way, I have black listed this site from EFL/TESOL/TEFL sites in Hungary, slovakia, slovenia, Ukraine, Estonia and Croatia for the simple reason that 60% or more information contained on this site is inaccurate based on 6 weeks of study by international House and other Governmental bodies.
I've been forced to post it here as the owners are seem to be ignoring messages.
multi-diurnal might be interpreted as multiple days. i think youre better off with a phrase, instead of a single word.
Sorry to disappoint you Milander but accuracy is not what matters here! Accutare people like you is not what matters at all! The "rich nuances of English", as you put it, are as important for the English speakers in the world as death is to life. So please stay out of here and do not interfere anymore!
Besides, Milander, English does not belong to anyone anymore. If is is spoken by native or not native speakers does not matter anything either. Fortunately English evolves beyond your silly constraints, Milander. English is not a entity, believe me! It is a different way to interact, to learnm to communicate, to enrich our lives. You need to rethink, rephrase, and if possible, turn yourself inside out!
And to finish, let me say that your criticism was warmly welcomed as it made me use the "precious" English language a liitle bit more. I will love you eternally!
Hi Milander! I'm looking forward to find out good sites. Could you tell me what are the best sites to help people understand the nuances of English? Thanks a bunch!
Diurnal can mean daily or the opposite of nocturnal. The second definition is more common, though. Multidiurnal would be swimming against the semantic tide.
But this discussion has taken an overmost absurd direction and turned to sour name-calling. I thought the whole thing could be a joke to begin with, but posted out of pure boredom.
I don't know who's on this site, but I am legitimately qualified (i.e., degreed, professional) to comment. I feel dumber for having posted here.
So…nothing. Milander, are you shiting on me?
Hey!
I caught you! Were you looking for something interesting to read? Ha Ha!
Ernie: I suggest Michael Quinion's 'World of Words' or the 'Lydbury Grammar Clinic'.
Repetitively.
I did this repetitively throughout the day.
First word that came to mind was Frequently. Does it have to have daily in it? Sometimes it is just easy to stick to the simple words anyway. Theres nothing wrong with saying 'more than once a day' and if what ever the more than daily exercise is, is done more than is worth saying e.g. twice daily, then just use 'several times a day'
p.s Milander doesn't deserve cuticles
p.p.s sorry if any of that is inaccurately explained- I'm dyslexic.
Why don't you just pull a shakespeare and look for meanings of latin words like he did for "honorificabilitudinitatibus"?
simply "honorable."