half, middle, odd number, semi-

About this kanji

The kanji 「半」 means half or part, and is often used in both nouns and verbs. You will find it in several common compounds, such as 後半 (こうはん), which means second half, and 大半 (たいはん), meaning majority. Another example is 半ば (なかば), which refers to the middle of something. This kanji also appears in 半数 (はんすう), meaning half the number, and 半島 (はんとう), which means peninsula. A useful note is that when you see this kanji, it often indicates something that is divided or shared between two parts.

Example sentences

• 彼は半分寝ている。

  He is half asleep.

Meanings across languages

English

half, middle, odd number, semi-, part-

Tiếng Việt

nửa, giữa, số lẻ, bán, phần

日本語

半分, 真ん中, 奇数, 半-, 部分-

한국어

반, 중간, 홀수, 반-, 부분-

中文

一半, 中间, 奇数, 半-, 部分-

id

setengah

th

ครึ่ง

es

mitad

fr

moitié

de

Hälfte

pt

metade

Common compounds

• 後半こうはんsecond half, latter half
• 大半たいはんmajority, more than half, most (of)
• 半ばなかばmiddle, halfway, midway
• 半数はんすうhalf the number, half (of an amount), haploid (organism, cell, etc.)
• 半島はんとうpeninsula, Korea
• 半分はんぶんhalf
• 半面はんめんwhile, although, though
• 前半ぜんはんfirst half