Other forms: semifinals
A semifinal is the round just before the last match — win it and you are there. Reach the semifinal, semifinal draw, knocked out in the semifinal.
There are two of them and the winners meet in the final, which is what the semi- means: half of the way to the end. Losing one is proverbially worse than losing a final, because there is no medal and no occasion. Note that it is written with or without a hyphen.
1nounsemifinalThe round just before the final.
“They won the semifinal and will play for the trophy on Saturday.”
semifinal is a competition round.
Also accepted in games: semi, semi-final
Semi- plus final, from Latin semis, half, and finis, an end. Semicircle and finish come from the two halves.
Latin
semifinalis
English, today
semifinal
From Latin semifinalis, equivalent to semi- + final.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA