half
EnglishEdit
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Cardinal: two Ordinal: second Latinate ordinal: secondary Adverbial: two times, twice Multiplier: twofold Latinate multiplier: double Distributive: doubly Collective: both, pair, twosome Multiuse collective: doublet, couple, couplet Greek or Latinate collective: dyad Metric collective prefix: double- Greek collective prefix: di-, duo- Latinate collective prefix: bi- Fractional: half Metric fractional prefix: demi- Latinate fractional prefix: semi- Elemental: twin, doublet Greek prefix: deutero- Number of musicians: duo, duet, duplet Number of years: biennium |
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English half, halfe from Old English healf (“half”); as a noun, 'half', 'side', 'part', from Proto-West Germanic *halb, from Proto-Germanic *halbaz.
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /hɑːf/
- Rhymes: -ɑːf
- (General Australian, New Zealand, Scotland) IPA(key): /hɐːf/
- (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /hæf/
Audio (US) (file)
- Rhymes: -æf
NounEdit
half (plural halves)
- One of two usually roughly equal parts into which anything may be divided, or considered as divided.
- I ate the slightly smaller half of the apple.
- You don’t know the half of it.
- Of the passengers on the plane, half were English.
- The cake was delicious: half was vanilla and half was chocolate.
- 1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], H[enry] Lawes, editor, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, OCLC 228715864; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, OCLC 1113942837:
- Not half his riches known, and yet despised.
- 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Gardener’s Daughter; or, The Pictures”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], OCLC 1008064829, page 19:
- I and he, / Brothers in Art; a friendship so complete / Portion'd in halves between us, […]
- (sports) One of the two opposite parts of the playing field of various sports, in which each starts the game.
- 2011 September 16, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: New Zealand 83-7 Japan”, in BBC Sport[1]:
- However, the hosts hit back and hit back hard, first replacement hooker Andrew Hore sliding over, then Williams careering out of his own half and leaving several defenders for dead before flipping the ball to Nonu to finish off a scintillating move.
- Half of a standard measure, chiefly: (Britain) half a pint of beer or cider.
- (preceded by “a” or a number) The fraction obtained by dividing 1 by 2.
- Synonym: ½
- Three-quarters minus a quarter is a half.
- Any of the three terms at Eton College, for Michaelmas, Lent, and summer.
- (slang) A half sibling.
- 2016, Robert M. Herzog, A World Between:
- So for Richard and Barbara, Jeff and Kari, the impossibly varied collection of steps and halves that is another legacy of my father.
- (UK, archaic) A child ticket.
- (sports) abbreviated form for half marathon.
- (numismatic slang) Clipping of half-dollar.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
AdjectiveEdit
half (not comparable)
- Consisting of a half (½, 50%).
- Consisting of some indefinite portion resembling a half; approximately a half, whether more or less; partial; imperfect.
- a half truth
- 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page number, or |part=Prologue, I to VII, or conclusion)”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], OCLC 2024748:
- Assumed from thence a half-consent.
- (of a sibling) Having one parent (rather than two) in common.
- A half brother or half sister
- (of a relative other than a sibling) Related through one common grandparent or ancestor rather than two.
Usage notesEdit
- (consisting of a half): The adjective and noun are often united to form a compound, half-hour.
Derived termsEdit
See also those listed at Category:English terms prefixed with half-.
- automatic half-barrier level crossing
- half ape
- half back
- half-barrier
- half bent
- half binding
- half boarder
- half-breadth plan
- half brother
- half cadence
- half cap
- half cock
- half cocked
- half fare
- half hitch
- half hose
- half-life
- half measure
- half-moon
- halfness
- half note
- half page
- half pay
- half price
- half-rate
- half round
- half shift
- half sister
- half step
- half tide
- half time
- half tint
- half truth
- half year
DescendantsEdit
- → Fiji Hindi: haafaa
- → Hawaiian: hapa
- → English: hapa
- → Japanese: ハーフ (hāfu)
- → English: hafu
- → Maori: hāwhe
- → Pitjantjatjara: aapa
TranslationsEdit
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AdverbEdit
half (not comparable)
- In two equal parts or to an equal degree.
- In some part approximating a half.
- Partially; imperfectly.
- half-colored
- half done
- half persuaded
- half conscious
- He does sometimes half wish to change his life, but it is too difficult.
- 1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], OCLC 1154883115, (please specify the page number):
- Half loth and half consenting.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Nehemiah 13:24:
- Their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod.
- Practically, nearly.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], part 1, 2nd edition, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, OCLC 932920499; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene v:
- To be a King, is halfe to bee a God.
Usage notesEdit
- (approximating a half): The phrase half again expresses an amount in addition to the amount being compared to. E.g., half as many people refers to 50% of the original number, while half again as many people refers to 150% of the original number.
SynonymsEdit
- (partially; imperfectly): halfly (obsolete)
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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See alsoEdit
VerbEdit
half (third-person singular simple present halves, present participle halving, simple past and past participle halved)
- (transitive, obsolete) To halve.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bisect
TranslationsEdit
PrepositionEdit
half
- (UK, Ireland) Half past; a half-hour (30 minutes) after the last hour.
- Synonym: (North America, Australia) half past
- The time is 9:30; it is half nine.
- (Discuss(+) this sense) (rare, see usage notes) A half-hour to (preceding) the next hour.
- In some countries, "half seven" means 6:30.
Usage notesEdit
In English, the first sense (half past) is the only sense in current use. The second sense (half-hour before) is almost exclusively used in reference to other cultural or linguistic backgrounds where a similar usage exists.
InterjectionEdit
half
- (theater) A call reminding performers that the performance will begin in thirty minutes.
ReferencesEdit
- half in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
DutchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle Dutch half, from Old Dutch *half, from Proto-West Germanic *halb, from Proto-Germanic *halbaz.
Cognate with English half, German halb, West Frisian heal, Danish halv.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
half (not comparable)
- half
- (with numbers) half before the next whole
- half tien
- half past nine (i.e. half of the tenth hour)
- anderhalf
- one and a half (half before two, with ander originally meaning second)
- half tien
- (with months) the middle of that month
- half maart
InflectionEdit
Inflection of half | ||||
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uninflected | half | |||
inflected | halve | |||
comparative | — | |||
positive | ||||
predicative/adverbial | half | |||
indefinite | m./f. sing. | halve | ||
n. sing. | half | |||
plural | halve | |||
definite | halve | |||
partitive | halfs |
Derived termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
GermanEdit
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
half
Middle EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old English healf, half, from Proto-West Germanic *halb, from Proto-Germanic *halbaz.
NounEdit
half (plural halves or halfes or halven)
- half
- part; side; behalf
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Wyclif to this entry?)
- 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Myllers Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], OCLC 230972125; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, OCLC 932884868:
- The four halves of the house
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
Alternative formsEdit
AdjectiveEdit
half
Alternative formsEdit
AdverbEdit
half
Alternative formsEdit
DescendantsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “half, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- “half, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- “half, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.