halved

Halved is the past participle of halve, meaning to divide something into two equal parts. As an adjective, halved describes something that has been reduced by half. In everyday language, quantities such as “the population was halved” or “the budget was halved” illustrate its use.

The term derives from the concept of dividing into two parts. The verb halve appears in Middle English, from Old English healfian, with “halved” forming the standard past participle.

In mathematics, to halve a number is to multiply it by 1/2; halved values are 0.5 times their original. Repeated halving yields factors of 1/2 per operation, so halving twice results in a quarter (1/4) of the original, and so on. This applies to integers and real numbers alike, with the caveat that halving may produce non-integer values.

In physical dimensions, halving a linear dimension reduces area by a factor of four and volume by a factor of eight when all linear dimensions are halved. If only one dimension is halved, the resulting changes in area and volume depend on how many dimensions are affected, since area scales with the square of the linear factor and volume with the cube.

Typical synonyms or related phrases include “cut in half,” “reduce by half,” and “fifty percent reduction.” Halved contrasts with the noun or adjective “half,” which refers to one of two equal parts or to the value 0.5.