semicolon

SEM-ee-koh-lun

meaning in plain English

A punctuation mark (;) that looks like a dot with a comma above it, used to separate parts of a sentence when a comma isn’t strong enough.

Think semicolon joins two full sentences — like a soft period between close ideas.

for example

She used a semicolon to join the ideas: I have a big test tomorrow; I should go to bed early.

A semicolon links two full thoughts that belong together. Why not use a period? Because a semicolon shows the ideas are close: she has a test tomorrow; sleep comes first.