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half-brother

half-brother

46 2.1
A brother who has only one parent in common with you
  • noun
  • /ˈhæfˌbrʌðər/
translation icon : medio hermano
  • My parents divorced, and now I have a half-brother from my father's second marriage.
  • older half-brother
  • younger half-brother
  • year-old half-brother

There's my granddad, then my dad and then my dad's half brother and then me.

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Examples

  • After her mom married again, she gained a half-brother who was just a few years younger.

  • She always celebrated her birthday with her half-brother, even though they had different mothers.

  • I think they were brothers, half brothers in North Carolina, right?

  • I had two half brothers, John Bristol from the first marriage and Nicholas second marriage.

  • My parents are both dead, and I have a half-brother in New Mexico somewhere.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • I've got two half sisters and a half brother.

  • Washington learned to be determined from his two half-brothers, who had been trained at an English academy.

    Academic text (1997)
  • One day, we stood in my half-brother's room as he slept.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Ben Horowitz, my half-brother, had been searching for me, haunted, for over half a century.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The present king, Fahd, is due to be succeeded by his half-brother, Crown Prince Abdullah.

    Academic text (1995)

Synonyms

sibling
vshalf-brother
253 1.0

A child who shares a parent with another child

refers specifically to a child who shares only one parent
blood relation
vshalf-brother
3 2.8

A person who comes from the same family as you by birth, not by marriage

is narrower, meaning a same generation relative sharing exactly one parent
half blood
vshalf-brother
5.6

A person who shares only one parent with a brother or sister

has identical meaning but is phrased as a different form

Surface Forms

half-brother singular
half-brothers plural

Morphology

half-brother = half + brother (transparent) = half + brother

The meaning is directly derived from the clear combination of 'half' + 'brother': a brother who shares only one parent.

Etymology

Half-brother comes from the simple parts half and brother; half means 'part' and brother means 'male sibling', so a half-brother is a brother who shares only one parent.