Half
/hælf/noun
One of two equal parts of something.
Did you know?Half is a deeply ancient Germanic word, and its relatives spread across the family tree in forms that originally meant a divided or broken piece rather than a neat mathematical fraction.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kel-
“To split, strike, or cut”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*halbaz
“Half; divided in two”
Old English
OE
healf
“Half; side; part”
Middle English
ME
half
“Half; one of two equal parts”
Modern English
English
half
“One of two equal parts of something”