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(biweek)ly = once per two week interval = 1/14 day^-1

bi(weekly) = double once per one week interval = 2/7 day^-1

(semiweek)ly = once per half-week interval = 2/7 day^-1

semi(weekly) = half of the rate of once per week interval = 1/14 day^-1

So, we end up with the same two meanings in the end.

The point is that nobody would instinctively choose that fourth interpretation, because nobody instinctively thinks of events happening at a rate.

I disagree. “Semi” means half, i.e., less than. But all things being equal, if a meeting is held “half as much as annually,” I would expect it to occur every 2 years, not twice as often as annually.

I think it has the same issue as biannually or biweekly.

I can see people learning English as a second language struggling, but I don’t think anybody raised with English would take semimonthly to mean every two months. Maybe this is because of how we learn about the prefix, with semicircles (half circles).

I'm a native English speaker and I speak no other language. But my view is just one data point.

The problem is whether "half as much as annually" is interpreted as twice as frequently (your view, and the accepted one) or half as frequently (my natural inclination).

Why would you think that?

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