healf

• half, halb (Mercian)

From Anglo-Frisian *hælb, from West Germanic *halb, from Proto-Germanic *halbaz. Compare Old Frisian half (West Frisian heal), Old Saxon half (Low German half), Old Dutch *half (Dutch half), Old High German halb (German halb), Old Norse halfr (Icelandic hálfur, Swedish halv), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌱𐍃 (halbs).

• IPA^(key): /hæɑ̯lf/, [hæɑ̯ɫf]

healf f

1. side
   • late 10th century, Ælfric, "Easter Sunday"

     Se enġel sæt on þā swīðran healfe þǣre byrġene.

     The angel sat on the right side of the tomb.

   • c. 900, translation of Orosius' History Against the Pagans

     Scotland is on ǣlċe healfe ymbfangen mid gārseċġe.

     Ireland is surrounded by ocean on all sides (literally every side).

   • translation of Orosius' History Against the Pagans

     Þǣr wǣron swā miċele manslihtas on ǣġðre healfe þæt hīe man æt nīehstan bebyrġan ne mihte.

     So many people were killed on either side that they were eventually unable to bury them.

2. half
   • late 10th century, Ælfric, On the Seasons of the Year

     On þā healfe þe sēo Sunne sċīnþ þǣr biþ dæġ, and on þā healfe þe hēo ne sċīnþ þǣr biþ niht.

     On the half where the Sun shines there is day, and on the half where it doesn't shine there is night.

healf

1. half
   • late 10th century, Ælfric, "Passion of the Same"

     Se cyning behēt þām apostole healf his rīċe.

     The king promised the apostle half his kingdom.

   • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Luke 19:8

     Iċ selle þearfum healfe mīne ǣhta, and ġif iċ ǣniġne berēafode, ic hit be fēowerfealdum āġiefe.

     I give half my property to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I give it back four times over.

   • c. 900, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

     And þā æfter him Ēadrīċ ōðer healf ġēar þæt rīċe hæfde.

     And then, after him, Eadric ruled the kingdom for a year and a half.

   • c. 900, translation of Orosius' History Against the Pagans

     Heora man āhēng fifte healf hund.

     Four hundred and fifty of them were hanged (literally four and a half hundred).

   • translation of Orosius' History Against the Pagans

     On his fēðehere wǣron twā and þrītiġ þūsend, and þæs ġehorsodan fifte healf þūsend, and sċipa ān hund and eahtatiġ.

     There were thirty-two thousand men in his infantry, four and a half thousand in his cavalry, and one hundred and eighty ships in his navy.

   • late 10th century, Ælfric, On the Seasons of the Year

     Nān reġn cōm ofer Eorðan fēorðan healfum ġēare.

     No rain came over Earth for three and a half years.

   • The Worcester Chronicle, year 892

     Se bāt wæs ġeworht of þriddan healfre hȳde þe hīe on fōron.

     The boat that they traveled on was made of two and a half hides.

• In Old English, a certain number and a half is expressed by the ordinal of the next highest number, plus the word healf. Thus 'one and a half' is ōðer healf (literally "second half"), 'two and a half' is þridde healf ("third half"), 'twenty-four and a half' is fīf and twēntigoþe healf ("twenty-fifth half"), etc. Additionally, any following noun must be singular: 'six and a half pages' is seofoþa healf tramet, not *seofoþan healfe trametas. This was the original way to express a number and a half in all ancient Germanic languages, though all their modern descendants have developed a different system, with only one or two vestiges remaining, such as the word anderthalb in German.

healf

1. half
   • c. 900, translation of Orosius' History Against the Pagans

     And þā Crētense hæfdon þone grimlīcan siġe, and ealle þā æðelestan bearn þāra Athēniānsa hīe ġenāmon and sealdon þām Mīnōtaurō tō etenne, þæt wæs healf mann, healf lēo.

     And the Cretans gained the cruel victory, and took all the noblest children of the Athenians and fed them to the Minotaur (which was a half man, half lion).

• Middle English: half
  • English: half