moiety

/ˈmɔɪədi/

Other forms: moieties

A moiety is one of two equal parts. If you cut a sandwich in half, you can have one moiety for lunch and give the other moiety to a pigeon.

One moiety plus one moiety equals a whole. Moiety is a synonym for the noun half; a semicircle or your better half can be referred to as a moiety. In anthropology, moiety is used to describe one of two distinct groups of a tribe. Moiety can also mean "a part" in general, as Shakespeare used it in Antony and Cleopatra: "The death of Antony / Is not a single doom; in the name lay / A moiety of the world."

Definitions of moiety

1. noun

   one of two (approximately) equal parts
   synonyms: mediety

   type of:

   half, one-half

   one of two equal parts of a divisible whole
2. noun

   one of two basic subdivisions of a tribe
   type of:

   social group

   people sharing some social relation
3. noun

   something determined in relation to something that includes it
   synonyms: component, component part, constituent, part, portion

   types:

   substance

   the real physical matter of which a person or thing consists

   language unit, linguistic unit

   one of the natural units into which linguistic messages can be analyzed

   item, point

   a distinct part that can be specified separately in a group of things that could be enumerated on a list

   butt

   the part of a plant from which the roots spring or the part of a stalk or trunk nearest the roots

   base, basis

   the most important or necessary part of something

   detail, item, particular

   a small part that can be considered separately from the whole

   unit

   an individual or group or structure or other entity regarded as a structural or functional constituent of a whole

   member

   anything that belongs to a set or class

   balance, remainder, residual, residue, residuum, rest

   something left after other parts have been taken away

   subpart

   a part of a part

   dregs

   the most worthless or undesirable part of something

   body substance

   the substance of the body

   living substance, protoplasm

   the substance of a living cell (including cytoplasm and nucleus)

   discourse

   extended verbal expression in speech or writing

   word

   a unit of language that native speakers can identify

   syllable

   a unit of spoken language larger than a phoneme

   lexeme

   a minimal unit (as a word or stem) in the lexicon of a language; `go' and `went' and `gone' and `going' are all members of the English lexeme `go'

   morpheme

   minimal meaningful language unit; it cannot be divided into smaller meaningful units

   formative

   minimal language unit that has a syntactic (or morphological) function

   name

   a language unit by which a person or thing is known

   agenda item

   one of the items to be considered

   incidental

   an item that is incidental

   inventory item

   an item listed in an inventory

   line item

   an item in an appropriation bill

   news item

   an item in a newspaper

   place, position

   an item on a list or in a sequence

   collocation

   a grouping of words in a sentence

   phone, sound, speech sound

   (phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language

   sign

   a fundamental linguistic unit linking a signifier to that which is signified

   high spot, highlight

   the most interesting or memorable part

   dregs, leftover, remnant

   a small part or portion that remains after the main part no longer exists

   chemistry

   the chemical composition and properties of a substance or object

   material, stuff

   the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object

   phlogiston

   a hypothetical substance once believed to be present in all combustible materials and to be released during burning

   mixture

   (chemistry) a substance consisting of two or more substances mixed together (not in fixed proportions and not with chemical bonding)

   atom

   (physics and chemistry) the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element

   chemical element, element

   any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter

   activator

   (biology) any agency bringing about activation; a molecule that increases the activity of an enzyme or a protein that increases the production of a gene product in DNA transcription

   substrate

   the substance that is acted upon by an enzyme or ferment

   element

   one of four substances thought in ancient and medieval cosmology to constitute the physical universe

   medium

   an intervening substance through which something is achieved

   medium

   (biology) a substance in which specimens are preserved or displayed

   fluid

   a substance that is fluid at room temperature and pressure

   volatile

   a substance that changes readily from solid or liquid to vapor

   essence

   any substance possessing to a high degree the predominant properties of a plant or drug or other natural product from which it is extracted

   accent

   a detail or feature that adds visual emphasis to or contrasts with its surroundings

   type of:

   relation

   an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of two entities or parts together