Meaning & use

half-blood

noun·Advanced

A person related to another through only one shared parent, rather than through both.

See it in a sentence

Under the old inheritance law, a half-blood sibling received a smaller share of the estate.

Genealogists traced the family tree carefully to separate full-blood and half-blood relatives.

A note on using this word

The term is now mainly used in genealogy and law for partial-sibling relationships; applying it to a person's racial or ethnic background is outdated and can be offensive.

Words with a similar meaning

This term is best learned through its definition and examples.

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

full-blood

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