moiety
Americannoun
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a half.
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an indefinite portion, part, or share.
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Anthropology. one of two units into which a tribe or community is divided on the basis of unilineal descent.
noun
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a half
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one of two parts or divisions of something
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of moiety
1400–50; late Middle English moite < Middle French < Latin medietāt- (stem of medietās ) the middle, equivalent to medi ( us ) mid + -etāt-, variant, after vowels, of -itāt- -ity
Explanation
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."
Vocabulary lists containing moiety
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The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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"The Lady, or the Tiger?" by Frank R. Stockton
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Others included a carboxylic acid moiety or a methyl ester side chain.
From Science Daily ● May 27, 2026
Garfield George, head of Deishú Hít, or the End of the Beaver Trail House, Raven moiety, Deisheetaan clan of Angoon, in Alaska, was one of the Tlingit visitors at that moment of discovery.
From New York Times ● May 5, 2022
The first category, also known as moiety acts, gives compensation to those providing information to prosecutors but leaves control of litigation in the hands of the government.
From Slate ● Feb. 10, 2022
Alkenes are much more reactive than alkanes because the moiety is a reactive functional group.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
Fugacious, tourbillion, moiety, repugn, sacrosanct, censure, morass, El Dorado, and turpitude.
From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King
The reported compounds in question are NiII-coordinated norcorroles with modified aryl moieties as side chains.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2024
"Designing new vaccines that utilize nanoparticles with specific chemical moieties which not only aid in antigen delivery but can also activate particular immune pathways have the potential to enhance vaccine potency."
From Science Daily ● Mar. 6, 2024
The C–C–N axis of the CH3CN moieties was constrained to be linear and the C–C and C–N distances were fixed to standard values.
From Nature ● Mar. 28, 2017
They usually consist of six or fewer amino acid residues in a protein, or one or two sugar moieties in a carbohydrate antigen.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
Holding it taut upon the blade of my knife, I cut through at the crease, and thus divided it into two moieties of equal length, each two feet long.
From The Boy Tar by Read, Edward
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
