my better half
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
A jocose way of saying my wife. As the twain are one, each is half. Horace calls his friend animce dimidium mete (Odes 1, iii, 8).
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “my better half” mean?
A jocose way of saying my wife. As the twain are one, each is half. Horace calls his friend animce dimidium mete (Odes 1, iii, 8).
Is “my better half” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.