halve

Etymology

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”).

verb

1. (transitive) To reduce to half the original amount.
   These show that since 1946 the fatality rate in train and movement accidents combined has been halved, …. 1960 December, “Talking of Trains: B.R. safety in 1959”, in Trains Illustrated, page 708
2. (transitive) To divide into two halves.
3. (transitive) To make up half of.
   So far apart their lives are thrown / From the twin soul that halves their own. 1855, Matthew Arnold, Faded Leaves
4. (architecture, transitive) To join two pieces of timber etc. by cutting away each for half its thickness at the joining place, and fitting together.
5. (golf, transitive) In match play, to achieve a tie or draw on.
   I, of course, had no difficulty in doing likewise, and we halved the hole; but the awkward fact remained that I must now gain every hole to win the match, for my opponent's score was "nine up," and there only remained ten holes to play. 1902, Robert Marshall Grade, The Haunted Major
   All that counts is whether you won, lost, or halved the match. 2005, Bill Elliott, The Golf Bag Buddy: The Essential On-Course Reference, page 67