Etymograph

English

half

Half comes from Middle English half, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *halbaz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*halbaz1reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*halb1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150healf1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500half1
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588half1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English half
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “To be a King, is halfe to bee a…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*halbazWiktionary, English halfreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*halbWiktionary, English halfreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150healfWiktionary, English half
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500halfWiktionary, English half
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588halfWiktionary, English half. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “To be a King, is halfe to bee a…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with half, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ‘to cut’

  • skill ← skil ← *skilją
  • shell ← schelle ← sċiell ← *skallju ← *skaljō
  • shield ← scheld ← scield ← *skeldu ← *skelduz
  • skull ← sculle ← *skulli ← skalli ← *ᛋᚲᚨᛚᛟ
  • shilling ← schilling ← scilling ← *skillingaz ← *skiljaną
  • shale ← schale ← sċealu ← *skalu ← *skalō
  • schilling ← schillinc ← skilling ← *skillingaz ← *skiljaną
  • shoal ← sċeolu ← *skolu
  • shelve ← shelf
  • schelling ← *skilling ← *skillingaz ← *skiljaną
  • halter ← hælfter ← *halftrijā

through Proto-Germanic *halbaz

  • halve ← halven ← hilfan ← *halbijan ← *halbijaną

15 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun One of two usually roughly equal parts into which anything may be divided, or considered as divided.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “half”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *halbaz / half