half.
One of two usually roughly equal parts into which anything may be divided, or considered as divided.
Meaning & usage
One of two usually roughly equal parts into which anything may be divided, or considered as divided.
I ate the smaller half of the apple.
You don’t know the half of it.
One of two usually roughly equal parts into which anything may be divided, or considered as divided. One of two equal periods into which a game is divided.
An association football match usually consists of two halves of 45 minutes each.
One of two usually roughly equal parts into which anything may be divided, or considered as divided. One of the two opposite parts of the playing field of various sports, in which each starts the game.
Half of a standard measure, chiefly: half a pint of beer or cider. (Refusing a pint) Just a half, thank you. (Offering to top up a pint glass) Do you want a half in that? (Minimizing the amount of drink taken) A swift half at the Pear Tree.
Half of a standard measure, chiefly: A barrel measure of 27 gallons (half a hogshead).
The fraction obtained by dividing 1 by 2.
Three-quarters minus a quarter is a half.
Any of the three terms at Eton College, for Michaelmas, Lent, and summer.
A half sibling.
A child ticket. Two and a half to Paddington.
abbreviated form for half marathon.
Clipping of half-dollar.
Where this word comes from
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. Cognates Cognate with Old Saxon, Old Frisian, and Old Dutch half, West Frisian heal, Dutch half, German halb, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish halv, Icelandic hálfur and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌱𐍃 (halbs). Compare halve, behalf.
Consisting of a half (½, 50%).
a half kilo
a half hour
Consisting of some indefinite portion resembling a half; approximately a half, whether more or less; partial; imperfect.
a half truth
Having one parent (rather than two) in common.
a half brother or half sister
Related through one common grandparent or ancestor rather than two.
a half uncle or half aunt or half cousin
Where this word comes from
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. Cognates Cognate with Old Saxon, Old Frisian, and Old Dutch half, West Frisian heal, Dutch half, German halb, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish halv, Icelandic hálfur and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌱𐍃 (halbs). Compare halve, behalf.
In two equal parts or to an equal degree.
In some part approximating a half.
Partially; imperfectly.
half-colored
The task is only half done.
Practically, nearly.
Where this word comes from
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. Cognates Cognate with Old Saxon, Old Frisian, and Old Dutch half, West Frisian heal, Dutch half, German halb, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish halv, Icelandic hálfur and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌱𐍃 (halbs). Compare halve, behalf.
To halve.
Where this word comes from
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. Cognates Cognate with Old Saxon, Old Frisian, and Old Dutch half, West Frisian heal, Dutch half, German halb, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish halv, Icelandic hálfur and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌱𐍃 (halbs). Compare halve, behalf.
Half past; a half-hour (30 minutes) after the last hour.
The time is 9:30; it is half nine.
A half-hour to (preceding) the next hour.
In some countries, "half seven" means 6:30.
Where this word comes from
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. Cognates Cognate with Old Saxon, Old Frisian, and Old Dutch half, West Frisian heal, Dutch half, German halb, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish halv, Icelandic hálfur and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌱𐍃 (halbs). Compare halve, behalf.
A call reminding performers that the performance will begin in thirty minutes.
Where this word comes from
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. Cognates Cognate with Old Saxon, Old Frisian, and Old Dutch half, West Frisian heal, Dutch half, German halb, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish halv, Icelandic hálfur and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌱𐍃 (halbs). Compare halve, behalf.
Try it on your idea.
half has 4 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.