A musical interval or duration equal to half a second, or in rare usage, a half-second of time.
Constructed from 'demi' (half) + 'second.' A technical term combining the Latin 'secundus' (second) with the French demi prefix.
This word reveals how languages borrow and combine pieces to create precision—musicians needed a way to describe intervals between whole and half units, so they just put 'demi' in front of 'second' and solved it.
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