Meanings
nounhalf brother (plural half brothers or half brethren)
plural half brothers · plural half brethren · alternative half-brother · alternative halfbrother
- A male sibling sharing a single parent, as distinguished from a full brother or brother-german, from a step-brother, or from a brother-like figure such as a blood brother.
- hobbiesA male half sibling (same dam, different sires).
Synonyms & antonyms
Narrower
maternal half brothermaternal half-brotherpaternal half-brother
nouna brother who has only one parent in common with you
Similar
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishhalf broþer
- Englishhalf brother
From Middle English half broþer, equivalent to half + brother. Cognate with Dutch halfbroer (“halfbrother”), German Halbbruder (“halfbrother”), Danish halvbroder (“halfbrother”), Swedish halvbroder, halvbror (“halfbrother”), Icelandic hálfbróðir (“halfbrother”).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian полубрат, полубрат
- полубрат (polubrat)male half-sibling
- полубрат (polubrat)son of the same mother but a different father
- полубрат (polubrat)son of the same father but a different mother
Catalan germanastre
- germanastremale half-sibling
Chinese Cantonese 同母異父 /同母异父, 同父異母 /同父异母
- 同母異父 /同母异父 (tung⁴ mou⁵ ji⁶ fu⁶)son of the same mother but a different father
- 同父異母 /同父异母 (tung⁴ fu⁶ ji⁶ mou⁵)son of the same father but a different mother
- 同父异母 (tung⁴ fu⁶ ji⁶ mou⁵)son of the same father but a different mother
Chinese Mandarin 同母異父 /同母异父, 同父異母 /同父异母
- 同母異父 /同母异父 (tóngmǔ yìfù)son of the same mother but a different father
- 同父異母 /同父异母 (tóngfù yìmǔ)son of the same father but a different mother
- 同父异母 (tóngfù yìmǔ)son of the same father but a different mother
Czech nevlastní bratr
- nevlastní bratrmale half-sibling
Dutch halfbroer, halfbroeder
- halfbroermale half-sibling
- halfbroedermale half-sibling
Esperanto duonfrato
- duonfratomale half-sibling
Finnish velipuoli
- velipuolimale half-sibling
French demi-frère
- demi-frèremale half-sibling
German Halbbruder
- Halbbrudermale half-sibling
Greek ετεροθαλής αδελφός
- ετεροθαλής αδελφός (eterothalís adelfós)male half-sibling
Hindi सौतेला भाई
- सौतेला भाई (sautelā bhāī)male half-sibling
Hungarian féltestvér
- féltestvérmale half-sibling
Icelandic hálfbróðir
- hálfbróðirmale half-sibling
Irish leathdheartháir, leasdeartháir
- leathdheartháirmale half-sibling
- leasdeartháirmale half-sibling
Italian mezzo fratello, fratellastro
- mezzo fratellomale half-sibling
- fratellastromale half-sibling
Japanese 胤違い, 胤変わり
- 胤違い (tanechigai)son of the same mother but a different father
- 胤変わり (tanegawari)son of the same mother but a different father
- 異父 (ifu)son of the same mother but a different father
- 腹違い (harachigai)son of the same father but a different mother
- 畑違い (hatakechigai)son of the same father but a different mother
- 異腹son of the same father but a different mother
- 異母 (ibo)son of the same father but a different mother
Korean 의붓 형제
- 의붓 형제 (uibut hyeongje)male half-sibling
Latin semifrater, semigermanus
- semifratermale half-sibling
- semigermanusmale half-sibling
- frater uterinusson of the same mother but a different father
- uterinusson of the same mother but a different father
- frater consanguineusson of the same father but a different mother
- frater agnatusson of the same father but a different mother
- agnatusson of the same father but a different mother
Latvian pusbrālis
- pusbrālismale half-sibling
Malay abang tiri, adik tiri
- abang tirimale half-sibling
- adik tirimale half-sibling
Norwegian Bokmål halvbror
- halvbrormale half-sibling
Persian برادر ناتنی
- برادر ناتنی (barâdar-e nâtani)male half-sibling
Polish przyrodni brat
- przyrodni bratmale half-sibling
Portuguese meio-irmão
- meio-irmãomale half-sibling
Romanian frate pe jumătate, frate vitreg
- frate pe jumătatemale half-sibling
- frate vitregmale half-sibling
Russian единоутро́бный брат, единокро́вный брат
- единоутро́бный брат (jedinoutróbnyj brat)son of the same mother but a different father
- единокро́вный брат (jedinokróvnyj brat)son of the same father but a different mother
Scottish Gaelic leth-bhràthair
- leth-bhràthairmale half-sibling
Spanish medio hermano, hermanastro
- medio hermanomale half-sibling
- hermanastromale half-sibling
Swedish halvbror, halvbroder
- halvbrormale half-sibling
- halvbrodermale half-sibling
Urdu سوتیلا بھائی
- سوتیلا بھائی (soutela bhai)male half-sibling
Vietnamese cùng mẹ khác cha, cùng cha khác mẹ
- cùng mẹ khác chason of the same mother but a different father
- cùng cha khác mẹson of the same mother but a different father
- cùng cha khác mẹson of the same father but a different mother
Welsh hanner brawd
- hanner brawdmale half-sibling
Cite this entry
APA
half brother. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/half%20brother
MLA
“half brother.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/half%20brother. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “half brother,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/half%20brother.
Source: half brother on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.