# better half

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. A person's spouse or lover, most commonly a man's wife.
2. A very close friend or companion.

## Etymology
Ultimately from such Latin poetic phrases as animae dīmidium meae (“half of my soul”) (Horace writing about Virgil), when it instead referred to a close friend (compare soulmate). First written instance of it meaning “spouse” was in 1580 by Sir Philip Sidney.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/better-half