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half title

half title

7.7
The page near the front of a book that shows only the title
  • noun
  • /hæf taɪtəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : media portada
  • Every classic novel in the library had a half title before the main title page.

Examples

  • This isn't to say digital books need to have a faux slipcase, cloth textures, 'endpages' or half-titles.

    Blog text (13)
  • She flipped to the half title page to see the title before diving into the introduction.

  • Why a half-title?

    Blog text (13)
  • The half title of the book simply displayed its name without any author's information.

Synonyms

bastard title
vshalf title
  • Specialized
9.9

A page at the start of a book that shows only the title before the main title page

is the first page showing only the title rather than other details

Surface Forms

half title singular
half titles plural

Morphology

half + title

Knowing 'half' (partial) and 'title' (the book heading) gives a learner a general sense of something like a partial or reduced title, so there is a visible compositional link. However, the item is a specific publishing term for a particular page showing only the title, a technical, language‑specific meaning a B1 learner would not reliably infer from the parts alone.

Etymology

The noun half title is a simple page in a book that shows only the title, so it is literally only a half of the full title page. People who made books put this plain page at the front to protect the full title page while the book was put together, which is why half title today means the small page with only the title.