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better half

noun

Etymology

Ultimately from such Latin poetic phrases as animae dīmidium meae (“half of my soul”) (Horace writing about Virgil), when it instead referred to a close friend (compare soulmate). First written instance of it meaning “spouse” was in 1580 by Sir Philip Sidney.

Definitions

  1. A person's spouse or lover, most commonly a man's wife.

    • Near-synonyms: other half (neutral valence), ball and chain (negative valence)
    • Let me ask my better half and get back to you.

  2. A very close friend or companion.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for better half. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA