moiety

American  

[moi-i-tee] / ˈmɔɪ ɪ ti /

noun

• moieties
  plural

1. a half.

2. an indefinite portion, part, or share.

3. Anthropology. one of two units into which a tribe or community is divided on the basis of unilineal descent.

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moiety British  

/ ˈmɔɪɪtɪ /

noun

1. a half

2. one of two parts or divisions of something

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• moieties
  plural

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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

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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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

moiety moieties

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

"We hypothesized that the introduction of side interacting moieties with less directionality would enhance the stacking between norcorrole units," explains Prof. Maeda.

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

Molecules with F-H, O-H, or N-H moieties are very strongly attracted to similar moieties in nearby molecules, a particularly strong type of dipole-dipole attraction called hydrogen bonding.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

From a highly disordered background, moieties resembling PF6 units emerged.

From Nature ● Mar. 28, 2017

Her tribe, with its two moieties or classes, may have six totems in each.

From Oriental Women by Edward Bagby Pollard

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