healf
Old English edit
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Proto-West Germanic *halbu, from Proto-Germanic *halbō.
Noun edit
healf f
- side
- c. 992, Ælfric, "Easter Sunday"
- Sē enġel sæt on þā swīðran healfe þǣre byrġene.
- The angel sat on the right side of the tomb.
- late 9th century, translation of Orosius' History Against the Pagans
- Sċotland is on ǣlċe healfe ymbfangen mid gārseċġe.
- Ireland is surrounded by ocean on all sides (literally every side).
- translation of Orosius' History Against the Pagans
- Þǣr wǣron swā miċele manslihtas on ǣġðre healfe þæt hīe man æt nīehstan bebyrġan ne meahte.
- So many people were killed on either side that they were eventually unable to bury them.
- c. 992, Ælfric, "Easter Sunday"
- half
- late 10th century, Ælfric, On the Seasons of the Year
- On þā healfe þe sēo sunne sċīnþ þǣr biþ dæġ, and on þā healfe þe hēo ne sċīnþ þǣr biþ niht.
- On the half where the sun shines there is day, and on the half where it doesn't shine there is night.
- late 10th century, Ælfric, On the Seasons of the Year
Declension edit
Declension of healf (strong ō-stem)
Etymology 2 edit
From Proto-West Germanic *halb, from Proto-Germanic *halbaz.
Cognate with Old Frisian half, Old Saxon half, Old Dutch *half, Old High German halb, Old Norse halfr, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌱𐍃 (halbs).
Adjective edit
healf
- half
- c. 992, Ælfric, "Passion of the Same"
- Sē cyning behēt þām apostole healf his rīċe.
- The king promised the apostle half his kingdom.
- c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Luke 19:8
- Iċ selle þearfum healfe mīne ǣhta, and ġif iċ ǣniġne berēafode, ic hit be fēowerfealdum āġiefe.
- I give half my property to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I give it back four times over.
- late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History
- And þā æfter him Ēadrīċ ōðer healf ġēar þæt rīċe hæfde.
- And then, after him, Eadric ruled the kingdom for a year and a half.
- late 9th century, translation of Orosius' History Against the Pagans
- Heora man āhēng fifte healf hund.
- Four hundred and fifty of them were hanged (literally four and a half hundred).
- translation of Orosius' History Against the Pagans
- On his fēðeherġe wǣron twā and þrītiġ þūsend, and þæs ġehorsodan fifte healf þūsend, and sċipa ān hund and eahtatiġ.
- There were thirty-two thousand men in his infantry, four and a half thousand in his cavalry, and one hundred and eighty ships in his navy.
- late 10th century, Ælfric, On the Seasons of the Year
- Nān reġn cōm ofer Eorðan fēorðan healfum ġēare.
- No rain came over Earth for three and a half years.
- The Worcester Chronicle, year 892
- Sē bāt wæs ġeworht of þriddan healfre hīde þe hīe on fōron.
- The boat that they traveled on was made of two and a half hides.
- c. 992, Ælfric, "Passion of the Same"
Usage notes edit
- A certain number and a half was expressed with the ordinal of the next highest number, plus the word healf. Thus one and a half is ōþer healf (literally "second half"), two and a half is þridda healf ("third half"), twenty-four and a half is fīf and twēntigoþa healf ("twenty-fifth half"), and so forth.
- Additionally, the noun that "___ and a half" enumerates must be singular: 'six and a half pages' is seofoþa healf tramet, not *seofoþan healfe trametas. The one seeming exception is when "___ and a half" describes another number, as in þridde healf þūsend ċeacena ("two and a half thousand cakes"). Here "cakes" still has to be plural because "two and a half" describes the number of thousands, not the number of cakes. If the phrase was just "two and a half cakes," the noun would indeed be singular: þridde healf ċeace, not *þriddan healfa ċeacan.
Declension edit
Declension of healf — Strong
Declension of healf — Weak
Adverb edit
healf
- half
- late 9th century, translation of Orosius' History Against the Pagans
- And þā Crētense hæfdon þone grimlīcan siġe, and ealle þā æðelestan bearn þāra Athēniānsa hīe ġenāmon and sealdon þām Mīnōtaurō tō etenne, þæt wæs healf mann, healf lēo.
- And the Cretans gained the cruel victory, and took all the noblest children of the Athenians and fed them to the Minotaur (a half man, half lion).
- late 9th century, translation of Orosius' History Against the Pagans