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# semibreve

«semibreve» in Mova's school dictionary: **The longest common note: it lasts four beats in 4/4 time…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a semibreve, semibreves)

### meaning for a pupil

(music, UK) The longest common note: it lasts four beats in 4/4 time, as long as two minims or four crotchets; in the USA it is called a whole note. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/semibreve/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In music lessons a semibreve is drawn as an open oval with no stem. It fills a whole bar of 4/4 time. Note values form a halving pattern, useful for fractions in maths.

### examples

- A semibreve lasts for four beats. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/semibreve/#x1)
- In America a semibreve is called a whole note. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/semibreve/#x2)
- One semibreve fills a whole bar in 4/4 time. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/semibreve/#x3)
- A semibreve looks like an empty oval with no stem. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/semibreve/#x4)
- Two minims make one semibreve. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/semibreve/#x5)
- Hold the semibreve until I count to four. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/semibreve/#x6)
- A semibreve is as long as eight quavers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/semibreve/#x7)

### note

Countable; plural «semibreves». «Semi-» here does not mean «small»: it is a «half» of the old «breve», a note now rarely used. Maths: 1 semibreve = 2 minims = 4 crotchets = 8 quavers = 16 semiquavers. A whole-bar rest looks different (a small block hanging below a line).

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «semibreve» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/semibreve/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.