Where does “halfway” come from?
Halfway comes from Old English healfweġ, a compound of healf (half) and weġ (way or path).
halfway (English): Half of the way between two points; midway;...
Definitions
- Half of the way between two points; midway;...
Ancestry of “halfway”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | halfwey | — |
| 2 | Old English | healfweġ | half-way |
| 3 | Old English | healf- | half |
| 4 | Old English | healf | side; half; partly |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | *halb | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | halbaz | half |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kelH- | to cut; to split, to separate |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kel- | to bend, crook; bent, crooked; leg, heel, knee,... |