Healf

Part of speech: noun, adjective, adverb

Definitions

1. One of two equal portions into which something is divided ; to a partial extent, not completely or fully
2. Either of two identical shares that make up a whole ; in some measure, but not wholly or entirely
3. An equal part of a whole thing, as in a split in two ; partially, somewhat, or to a limited degree rather than fully

Etymology: Old English "healf" originally meant "side" or "direction" more than "half." Someone standing on one side of a river was on one "healf" of it, and the number sense grew out of that idea of a dividing side. The same root survives in "behalf," which began as "be" plus "healf" and meant "on the side of" someone, and in "on my behalf," which still carries that sense of standing beside someone's interests. The plural shows a sound change that most English speakers never notice. Old English "healfas" became "halves" because the "f" between vowels was pronounced as a "v," the same pattern that gives "wife" and "wives." The word is closely related to German "halb" and Dutch "half," and its Proto-Germanic ancestor is usually reconstructed as "*halbaz." The Indo-European origin is uncertain.