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单词 half
释义

half

See also: half- and hálf-

English

English numbers (edit)
 ←  123  → 
    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 forms

  • 'arf, ha'f

Etymology

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:
Akin to Old Saxon, Old Frisian, and Dutch half, West Frisian heal, German halb, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian halv, Icelandic hálfur and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌱𐍃 (halbs). Compare halve, behalf.

Pronunciation

  • (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
  • (Ireland, Wales) IPA(key): /haf/, /häf/

Noun

half (plural halves)

  1. 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, […]
  2. (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:
      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.
  3. Half of a standard measure, chiefly: (Britain) half a pint of beer or cider.
    • 1968, John Braine, The Crying Game, Houghton Mifflin, page 11,
      He came back with a pint of Guinness for me and a half of bitter for Wendy.
    • 1974, James Herriot, All Things Bright and Beautiful, St. Martin's Press,, →ISBN:
      I accepted a half of bitter from him.
    • 2006, Bill Appleton, Wide Boy, Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie, →ISBN, page 168:
      I went to the bar where I bought a pint and two large brandies. ... "Not brandy," she replied, "but I could use a long drink - maybe a half of lager."
  4. (preceded by “a” or a number) The fraction obtained by dividing 1 by 2.
    Synonym: ½
    Three-quarters minus a quarter is a half.
  5. Any of the three terms at Eton College, for Michaelmas, Lent, and summer.
  6. (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.
  7. (UK, archaic) A child ticket.
  8. (sports) abbreviated form for half marathon.
  9. (numismatic slang) Clipping of half-dollar.
    • 2002 August 15, Fred A. Murphy, “FA: Last of the Walkers”, in rec.collecting.coins, Usenet‎, retrieved 2023-01-03:
      Tonight, we're offering the last of the Walking Liberty Halves for awhile:

Derived terms

Terms derived from half (noun)
  • better half
  • by halves
  • cry halves
  • go halves
  • half a loaf is better than none
  • half and half
  • in half
  • in one's half
  • know the half of
  • not half
  • not half bad
  • other half
  • too clever by half

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Adjective

half (not comparable)

  1. Consisting of a half (½, 50%).
    Synonyms: semi-, hemi-, demi-
    a half kilo
    a half hour
    a half dollar
  2. 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.
  3. (of a sibling) Having one parent (rather than two) in common.
    A half brother or half sister
  4. (of a relative other than a sibling) Related through one common grandparent or ancestor rather than two.
    A half uncle or half aunt or half cousin

Usage notes

  • (consisting of a half): The adjective and noun are often united to form a compound, half-hour.

Derived terms

See also those listed at Category:English terms prefixed with half-.

Terms derived from half (adjective)
.
  • 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

Descendants

  • → Fiji Hindi: haafaa
  • → Hawaiian: hapa
    • → English: hapa
  • → Japanese: ハーフ (hāfu)
    • → English: hafu
  • → Maori: hāwhe
  • → Pitjantjatjara: aapa

Translations

Adverb

half (not comparable)

  1. In two equal parts or to an equal degree.
  2. In some part approximating a half.
  3. 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.
  4. 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 notes

  • (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.

Synonyms

  • (partially; imperfectly): halfly (obsolete)

Derived terms

Terms derived from half (adverb)
  • half-arsed
  • half-forgotten
  • half-hearted
  • half-timbered

Translations

See also

  • not half

Verb

half (third-person singular simple present halves, present participle halving, simple past and past participle halved)

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To halve.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bisect

Translations

halve — see halve

Preposition

half

  1. (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.
  2. (Discuss(+) this sense) (rare, see usage notes) A half-hour to (preceding) the next hour.
    In some countries, "half seven" means 6:30.

Usage notes

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.

Interjection

half

  1. (theater) A call reminding performers that the performance will begin in thirty minutes.

References

  • half in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Dutch

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɦɑlf/
  • Audio(file)
  • Hyphenation: half
  • Rhymes: -ɑlf

Adjective

half (not comparable)

  1. half
  2. (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)
  3. (with months) the middle of that month
    half maart
    mid-March

Inflection

Inflection of half
uninflectedhalf
inflectedhalve
comparative—
positive
predicative/adverbialhalf
indefinitem./f. sing.halve
n. sing.half
pluralhalve
definitehalve
partitivehalfs

Derived terms

  • anderhalf
  • halfgod m
  • halfrond n
  • halfstok
  • halfweg
  • halveren
  • halverwege
  • helft

Descendants

  • Berbice Creole Dutch: halfu
  • Negerhollands: half
  • →? Sranan Tongo: afu (dated)
    • → Aukan: aloefoe
    • → Saramaccan: háfu, áfu

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /half/
  • Audio(file)

Verb

half

  1. first/third-person singular preterite of helfen

Middle English

Etymology

From Old English healf, half, from Proto-West Germanic *halb, from Proto-Germanic *halbaz.

Noun

half (plural halves or halfes or halven)

  1. half
  2. 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 forms

  • halfe, halph, alf, alfe, hælf, healf, healfe, elf, haf, hafe, halve, alve, hælve, helve

Adjective

half

  1. half

Alternative forms

  • healf (early)

Adverb

half

  1. half

Alternative forms

  • elf

Descendants

  • English: half (see there for further descendants)
  • Scots: hauf
  • Yola: halleef, halef, halluf

References

  • “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.
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