Half Definition
hăf, häf
halves
noun
halves
Either of the two equal parts of something.
The top half of a layer cake.
Webster's New World
Either of two corresponding or approximately equal parts.
The larger half of a divided pie.
Webster's New World
A half-hour.
Half past one.
Webster's New World
A 50-cent piece.
American Heritage
Either of the two equal periods of the game, between which the players rest.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
adjective
Being either of the two equal parts of something.
Webster's New World
Being about a half of the amount, length, etc.
A half mask covered his eyes.
Webster's New World
Incomplete; fragmentary; partial.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
adverb
To an extent approximately or exactly fifty percent of the whole.
Webster's New World
To some extent; partly.
To be half convinced.
Webster's New World
To a large extent or degree; nearly.
Half dead with fatigue.
Webster's New World
By any means; at all.
The concert was not half bad.
Webster's New World
affix
One half.
Half-life.
Webster's New World
Partly.
Half-baked.
Webster's New World
verb
(obsolete) To halve.
Wiktionary
prefix
A prefix used before brother, sister, uncle, aunt, and so forth, to indicate that the person being identified is related only through one parent, grandparent, and so forth, rather than two.
Wiktionary
idiom
by half
- By a considerable extent.
- By an excessive amount:
too clever by half.
American Heritage
by halves
- In a reluctant manner; unenthusiastically.
American Heritage
half again as many
- One-and-a-half times as much or as many; 50 percent more.
American Heritage
in half
- Into halves.
American Heritage
not half
- Not at all:
American Heritage
Origin of Half
-
From Middle English, from Old English healf (“half”); as a noun, 'half', 'side', 'part', from Proto-Germanic *halbaz; akin to Old Saxon, Old Frisian, and Dutch half, West Frisian heal, German halb, Swedish halv, Danish halv, Icelandic hálfur and Gothic (halbs). Compare halve, behalf.
From Wiktionary
-
Middle English from Old English healf skel-1 in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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