Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

better half

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.25 in modern English

Syllables: bet-ter half
IPA

18

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A person's spouse or lover, most commonly a man's wife.

noun

A very close friend or companion.

Archaic

Example Sentences

"Near-synonyms: other half (neutral valence), ball and chain (negative valence)"
"Let me ask my better half and get back to you."
"But with that Argalus came out of his swoon, […], it seemed a little cheerful blood came up to his cheeks, like a burning coal, almost dead, if some breath a little revive it: and forcing up, the best he could, his feeble voice, “My dear, my better half,” said he, “I find I must now leave thee: and by that sweet hand, and fair eyes of thine I swear that death brings nothing with it to grieve me but that I must leave thee, […]"
"Quickly gentlemen, we got about fifteen minutes before Jimmie's better-half comes pulling into the driveway."
"Private life then, just to flesh out David Brent the man. Is there a better half?"

Etymology

Ultimately from such Latin poetic phrases as animae dīmidium meae (“half of my soul”) (Horace writing about Virgil), when it instead referred to a close friend (compare soulmate). First written instance of it meaning “spouse” was in 1580 by Sir Philip Sidney.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: -

Usage

Archaic

Inflected Forms

better halves (plural)

Synonyms

spouse better half consort helpmate helpmeet mate other half partner spousy wedder ball and chain

Questions

What does better half mean?: A person's spouse or lover, most commonly a man's wife.
Where does better half come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce better half

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