Link Centre Dictionary

halve

UK/hɛəv/ US/hɑːv/ fairly common

verb

1.

divide by two; divide into halves

  • “Halve the cake”

Origin

From Middle English halven, helven, from Old English hilfan, helfan, *hielfan (“to halve, divide in two”), from Proto-West Germanic *halbijan, from Proto-Germanic *halbijaną (“to halve”), from Proto-Germanic *halbaz (“half”). Cognate with Middle Dutch halven (“to halve”), Middle High German halben, helben (“to halve”). Compare also West Frisian helte (“to halve”), Dutch halveren (“to halve”), German Low German halberen (“to halve”), German halbieren (“to halve”), Danish halvere (“to halve”), Swedish halvera (“to halve”).

Phrases

  • a problem shared is a problem halved
  • a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved
  • a trouble shared is a trouble halved
  • cross-halving joint
  • halve it

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.