halfway

See also: Halfway

English

Alternative forms

• half-way

Etymology

From Middle English halfwey, from Old English healfweġ (“half-way”), equivalent to half- +‎ way. Cognate with Saterland Frisian hoolfwais (“halfway”), Dutch halfweg (“halfway”), German halbwegs (“halfway”), Danish halvvejs (“halfway”), Swedish halvvägs (“halfway”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /hæfweɪ/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /hɑːfˈweɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adverb

halfway (not comparable)

1. Half of the way between two points; midway.

   I was already halfway home when I missed my keyring.

   • 1989, Octavia E. Butler, “Part III, Chapter 7”, in Imago, page 210:

     Just over halfway up, we reached the Human settlement with its houses of stone and wood and thatch.

   • 2010 March 25, Corey Kilgannon, “When Meeting Halfway Means in the Street”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     "He comes halfway and I come halfway," said Mr. Korson, 56.

2. Moderately; somewhat.

   a halfway decent place to sleep

Derived terms

• halfway covenant
• halfway decent
• halfway house
• halfway line
• halfway model
• halfway there
• meet halfway

 

Translations

midway

• Afrikaans: halfpad, halfweg
• Belarusian: напаўдарозе (napaŭdarózje)
• Bulgarian: на половината път (na polovinata pǎt)
• Catalan: a mig camí
• Chinese:

  Hokkien: 半路 (pòaⁿ-lō͘)

  Mandarin: 半路 (zh) (bànlù), 半途 (zh) (bàntú), 中途 (zh) (zhōngtú)

• Dutch: halfweg (nl), halverwege (nl)
• Esperanto: duonvoje
• Finnish: puolivälissä
• French: (à) mi-chemin (fr)
• German: halbwegs (de)
• Irish: leath bealaigh, leath slí
• Italian: a metà strada
• Japanese: 途中で (ja) (とちゅうで, tochū-de), 中間で (ja) (ちゅうかんで, chūkan-de)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: halvveis, midtveis, midtvegs

  Nynorsk: midtvegs

• Polish: w połowie drogi, w pół drogi
• Portuguese: na metade
• Russian: наполови́ну (ru) (napolovínu), на полпути́ (na polputí)
• Sanskrit: अर्धपथे (sa) (ardhapathe)
• Scottish Gaelic: letheach-slighe
• Spanish: a mediados, a mitad de, a caballo entre, por la mitad
• Swedish: halvvägs (sv)
• Turkish: yarı yolda
• Ukrainian: на півдорозі (na pivdorozi)

See also

• halfways

Adjective

halfway (not comparable)

1. Middle; midway; being in the middle of the way or distance.

   John blacked out at the halfway point of the marathon.