Halve
/hæv/noun
To divide something into two equal parts; to reduce by one half.
Did you know?Halve comes from an old Germanic root meaning “half,” and English built the verb directly from the idea of making something into two parts.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*halbaz
“half”
Old English
OE
healf
“half; one of two equal parts”
Middle English
ME
halven
“to divide into halves”
Modern English
English
halve
“to divide into two equal parts; to reduce by one half”