Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

dīmĭdĭo, no perf., ātum, 1, v. a. [dimidius], to divide into two equal parts, to halve (as a finite verb, very rare): quid dimidias Christum? Tert. de Carn. Chr. 5.
Trop.: viri dolosi non dimidiabunt dies suos, i. e. shall not live half the life of men, Vulg. Psa. 54, 23; cf. also, id. Job, 21, 21; but freq. and class. in the perf. part. dīmĭ-dĭātus, halved, half (acc. to Varr. ap. Gell. 3, 14, 19, applied to a whole, which is divided into halves; whereas dimidius is applied to a half; or, as Gellius rightly explains it, dimidiatum nisi ipsum, quod divisum est, dici haud convenit; dimidium vero est, non quod ipsum dimidiatum est, sed quae ex dimidiato pars altera est; cf. however, dimidius, I.): homines dimidiati, Cato ap. Gell. l. l.; cf. id. R. R. 151, 3; and comic.: procellunt sese in mensam dimidiati (with half the body), dum appetunt, Plaut. Mil. 3, 1, 165; cf. also, transf.: dies quidem jam ad umbilicum est dimidiatus mortuus, id. Men. 1, 2, 45: luna, Cato ap. Plin. 16, 39, 75, § 194; cf. mensis, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 52; id. Tusc. 2, 16: vas vini, Enn. ap. Gell. l. l.: porcus, Lucil. ib.; cf. Suet. Tib. 34: solea, Lucil. ap. Gell. l. l.: librum, fabulam legi, Varr. ib.; cf.: exesis posterioribus partibus versiculorum, dimidiatis fere, Cic. Tusc. 5, 23, 66; so the comic verse respecting Terence: tu quoque, tu in summis, o dimidiate Menander, etc., Caes. ap. Suet. Vita Ter. fin.

dī-mĭdĭus, a, um, adj. [medius], half (for the diff. between it and dimidiatus, v. dimidio).

  1. I. As an adj., until the Aug. per. only in connection with pars, e. g.: dimidiam partem nationum subegit, Plaut. Curc. 3, 77; id. Aul. 4, 10, 37; id. Rud. 4, 4, 79; Lucr. 1, 618 sq.; 5, 720; Cic. N. D. 2, 40, 103; id. Rosc. Com. 11, 32; id. Fam. 13, 29, 4; Caes. B. G. 6, 31, 5; id. B. C. 1, 27; 3, 101 (twice); Sall. J. 64, 5; Suet. Caes. 42; Front. Strat. 2, 3, 21; Ov. F. 5, 122; id. Tr. 1, 2, 44 et saep.
  2. II. Since the Aug. per., esp. in poets, also with other substantives, instead of dimidiatus (v. dimidio), divided into two equal parts, halved: mullus (opp. lupus totus), Mart. 2, 37, 4: crus, Juv. 13, 95: vultus, id. 15, 57: Memnone, id. 15, 5: forma circuli, Plin. 2, 59, 60, § 150: clepsydrae, id. Ep. 6, 2, 5: labro basia dare, i. e. slightly, Mart. 2, 10 and 22; so of busts: Priapus, Mart. 11, 18; cf. Cicero’s pun on the half-length likeness of his brother Quintus: frater meus dimidius major est quam totus, in Macr. S. 2, 3 (the word dimidius, for dimidiatus, belongs prob. to Macr. himself).
  3. III. Trop., so of persons of mixed descent: dimidius patrum, dimidius plebis, half patrician and half plebeian, Liv. 4, 2, 6.
    Hence, subst.
    1. A. dīmidium, ii, n., the half (very freq. in all periods and kinds of writing): horae, Lucil. ap. Gell. 3, 14, 11; so with gen., Plaut. Am. 5, 1, 73; id. Bacch. 5, 2, 67; 71 et saep.; absol., Plaut. Bacch. 2, 3, 87; id. Ps. 4, 7, 68; 5, 2, 29; id. Pers. 1, 2, 17 et saep.; abl. dimidio, with comparatives: dimidio minus opinor, less by half, Plaut. As. 2, 4, 35; Cic. Att. 9, 9, 2; id. Fl. 20, 46; id. Verr. 2, 3, 33; Caes. B. G. 5, 13, 2; Hor. S. 2, 3, 318 et saep.
      1. 2. Like a comp. with quam: vix dimidium militum quam quod acceperat successori tradidit, Liv. 35, 1, 2; 45, 18, 7.
        Prov.: dimidium facti, qui coepit, habet, well begun is half done, Hor. Ep. 1, 2, 40; cf. Aus. Ep. 81.
    2. B. Rarely dī-midia, ae, f. (sc. pars), the half: verbenaca decocta in aqua ad dimidias, Plin. 26, 12, 73, § 120.