English [ edit ]
Etymology [ edit ]
half- + life
Pronunciation [ edit ]
half -life (plural half-lives )
( physics ) The time required for half the nuclei in a sample of an isotope to undergo radioactive decay .
( chemistry ) In a chemical reaction, the time required for the concentration of a reactant to fall from a chosen value to half that value.
( medicine ) The time it takes for a substance (drug, radioactive nuclide, or other) to lose half of its pharmacological, physiologic, or radiological activity.
The time it takes for an idea or a fashion to lose half of its influential power.
1991 , Robert Ackerman, Introduction to Jane Ellen Harrison's Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (1903)
Most books of scholarship have surprisingly short intellectual 'half-lives during which they make a difference"
Translations [ edit ]
time in physics
Afrikaans: (please verify ) halfleeftyd
Armenian: կիսատրոհման պարբերություն (hy) ( kisatrohman parberutʿyun )
Azerbaijani: yarımdağılma dövrü
Belarusian: перыяд паўраспаду n ( pjeryjad paŭraspadu )
Bulgarian: период на полуразпад m ( period na polurazpad )
Catalan: període de semidesintegració m , període radioactiu m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 半衰期 (zh) ( bànshuāiqī )
Czech: poločas rozpadu m
Danish: halveringstid (da) c
Dutch: halfwaardetijd (nl) m , halveringstijd (nl) m
Esperanto: duoniĝa tempo
Estonian: poolestusaeg
Finnish: puoliintumisaika (fi)
French: demi-vie (fr) f
Galician: período de semidesintegración m
Georgian: ნახევარდაშლის პერიოდი ( naxevardašlis ṗeriodi ) , ნახევრად დაშლის პერიოდი ( naxevrad dašlis ṗeriodi )
German: Halbwertszeit (de) f
Greek: χρόνος ημιζωής m ( chrónos imizoḯs )
Hebrew: (please verify ) מחצית חיים
Hindi: अर्धायु काल ( ardhāyu kāl )
Hungarian: felezési idő (hu)
Icelandic: helmingunartími
Indonesian: waktu paruh
Irish: leathré (ga) f
Italian: emivita (it) f , semivita f
Japanese: 半減期 ( はんげんき, hangenki )
Kannada: ಅರ್ಧಾಯುಷ್ಯ ( ardhāyuṣya )
Kazakh: жартылай ыдырау мерзімі ( jartylai ydyrau merzımı )
Korean: 반감기 (ko) ( ban'gamgi )
Latvian: pussabrukšanas periods
Lithuanian: pusėjimo trukmė
Macedonian: период на полураспад m ( period na poluraspad )
Malay: separuh hayat
Malayalam: അർദ്ധായുസ്സ് ( aṟddhāyussŭ )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: halveringstid (no) m or f
Nynorsk: halveringstid f
Persian: نیمهعمر ( nime-'omr )
Polish: czas połowicznego rozpadu m , okres połowicznego rozpadu m
Portuguese: meia-vida f , semivida f
Romanian: perioadă de înjumătățire (ro) f
Russian: пери́од полураспа́да (ru) m ( períod poluraspáda )
Serbo-Croatian:
Roman: vreme poluraspada n
Slovak: polčas premeny m
Slovene: razpolovni čas m
Spanish: periodo de semidesintegración m ; semivida f , vida media f
Swedish: halveringstid (sv) c
Tagalog: kalahatimbuhay
Tamil: அரைவாழ்வுக் காலம் ( araivāḻvuk kālam )
Telugu: అర్థ జీవితకాలం ( artha jīvitakālaṁ )
Thai: ครึ่งชีวิต
Turkish: (please verify ) yarılanma süresi
Ukrainian: пері́од напівро́зпаду m ( períod napivrózpadu )
Urdu: (please verify ) ہاف لائف
Uzbek: yarim yemirilish davri
Vietnamese: chu kì bán rã , chu kỳ bán rã , chu kỳ nửa phân rã
chemistry: time required for concentration to fall to half
medicine: time for a substance to lose half of its activity
time to lose half of influential power of an idea or fashion
Translations to be checked