Poolteist

Poolteist is an Estonian numeral meaning one and a half, equivalent to 1.5 in decimal notation. It is used to express quantities that lie between one and two and appears in both spoken and written Estonian.

The term is formed from pool, meaning half, and teist, a suffix that appears in the Estonian system of numbers in the 11–19 range. When used with a following noun, poolteist is typically accompanied by the noun in the partitive case in many constructions, especially in everyday speech.

Usage and examples of poolteist include measurements, time, and money. For instance, poolteist kilomeetrit means 1.5 kilometers; poolteist eurot or poolteist tuhat eurot means 1,500 euros; poolteist tundi means 1.5 hours. The expression is common in ordinary conversation as well as in standard prose, and it allows precise specification of quantities that are not whole numbers.

In writing, Estonian uses a comma as the decimal separator (1,5), while poolteist provides a concise verbal form for the same quantity. The term is considered a standard part of modern Estonian and is widely understood across different registers.

See also: Estonian numerals, decimal notation in Estonian.