semicolon

noun

1. the punctuation mark (;) used to indicate a major division in a sentence where a more distinct separation is felt between clauses or items on a list than is indicated by a comma, as between the two clauses of a compound sentence.

noun

1. the punctuation mark (;) used to indicate a pause intermediate in value or length between that of a comma and that of a full stop

n.punctuation-mark, 1640s, a hybrid coined from Latin-derived semi- + Greek-based colon (n.1). The mark itself was in Greek the point of interrogation. A punctuation mark (;) used to join two independent clauses in a sentence. The semicolon shows that the ideas in the two clauses are related: “Jack really didn’t mind being left without a car; he had the house to himself.”