Halfside

Halfside is a nonstandard term that appears in informal discussions and niche writings to denote a relation to the length of a polygon’s side, most often interpreted as a segment or length that is one half of a specified side. Because it is not part of formal geometry vocabulary, its precise meaning can vary by author and context.

In geometry and design contexts, halfside typically refers to one of two related ideas. It can mean a segment whose length equals half the length of a given side, used as a construction guide for creating similar figures or for establishing proportional relationships. Alternatively, it may describe a subdivision along a side, such as marking the midpoint or using the half-length as a basis for drawing parallel lines or auxiliary shapes. In tiling and pattern design, halfside concepts can help generate repeat units that derive from halving a boundary.

In computational and modeling settings, the term may appear in informal descriptions of algorithms that operate on mesh edges or polygonal boundaries, where half the length of an edge serves as a parameter for subdivision, scaling, or collision checks. However, because halfside is not standardized, practitioners typically replace it with explicit terms like “half the length of side AB” or “a segment of length AB/2.”

Etymology and usage notes: the term combines half with side and should be defined clearly when encountered. See also: half-edge, midpoint, halving, polygon, tiling.