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When we think about the workplace, people think about hard skills being dominant, but they're not. The employer realizes knowledge will shift quickly, and there's a half-life to knowledge in this world.
Gerald Chertavian

Meaning of "half-life" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

PRONUNCIATION OF HALF-LIFE

half-life play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF HALF-LIFE

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Half-Life is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES HALF-LIFE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Half-life

Half-life is the amount of time required for a quantity to fall to half its value as measured at the beginning of the time period. While the term "half-life" can be used to describe any quantity which follows an exponential decay, it is most often used within the context of nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry—that is, the time required, probabilistically, for half of the unstable, radioactive atoms in a sample to undergo radioactive decay. The original term, dating to Ernest Rutherford's discovery of the principle in 1907, was "half-life period", which was shortened to "half-life" in the early 1950s. Rutherford applied the principle of a radioactive elements' half-life to studies of age determination of rocks by measuring the decay period of radium to lead-206. Half-life is used to describe a quantity undergoing exponential decay, and is constant over the lifetime of the decaying quantity. It is a characteristic unit for the exponential decay equation. The term "half-life" may generically be used to refer to any period of time in which a quantity falls by half, even if the decay is not exponential.

Definition of half-life in the English dictionary

The definition of half-life in the dictionary is the time taken for half of the atoms in a radioactive material to undergo decay τ. Other definition of half-life is the time required for half of a quantity of radioactive material absorbed by a living tissue or organism to be naturally eliminated or removed by both elimination and decay.

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE HALF-LIFE

half-hourly
half-human
half-hunter
half-inch
half-jack
half-joking
half-jokingly
half-leather
half-length
half-lie
half-light
half-line
half-mad
half-marathon
half-mast
half-mile
half-miler
half-minute
half-moon
half-mourning

WORDS THAT END LIKE HALF-LIFE

a dog´s life
biological half-life
come to life
effective half-life
for dear life
larger-than-life
life
long-life
nightlife
not on your life
pro-life
quality of life
real life
real-life
short-life
still life
still-life
to the life
true-life
wildlife

Synonyms and antonyms of half-life in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «half-life» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF HALF-LIFE

Find out the translation of half-life to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of half-life from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «half-life» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

半衰期
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

vida media
570 millions of speakers

English

half-life
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

आधा जीवन
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

عمر النصف
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

Период полураспада
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

meia - vida
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

অর্ধ জীবন
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

La demi-vie
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Separuh hayat
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Halbwertszeit
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

半減期
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

반감기
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Setengah urip
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

Nửa đời
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

அரை ஆயுள் காலம்
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

अर्ध-आयुष्य
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

yarım hayat
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

emivita
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

półtrwania
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

Період напіврозпаду
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

de înjumătățire
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

ημιζωή
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

half- lewe
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

halveringstid
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

Halveringstiden
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of half-life

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «HALF-LIFE»

The term «half-life» is very widely used and occupies the 20.751 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Very widely used
91
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «half-life» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of half-life
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «half-life».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «HALF-LIFE» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «half-life» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «half-life» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about half-life

EXAMPLES

4 QUOTES WITH «HALF-LIFE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word half-life.
1
Berkeley Breathed
I could draw Bloom County with my nose and pay my cleaning lady to write it, and I'd bet I wouldn't lose 10% of my papers over the next twenty years. Such is the nature of comic-strips. Once established, their half-life is usually more than nuclear waste.
2
Berkeley Breathed
Such is the nature of comic strips. Once established, their half-life is usually more than nuclear waste. Typically, the end result is lazy, rich cartoonists.
3
David R. Brower
There are many different kinds of radioactive waste and each has its own half-life so, just to be on the safe side and to simplify matters, I base my calculations on the worst one and that's plutonium.
4
Gerald Chertavian
When we think about the workplace, people think about hard skills being dominant, but they're not. The employer realizes knowledge will shift quickly, and there's a half-life to knowledge in this world.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «HALF-LIFE»

Discover the use of half-life in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to half-life and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an ...
Samuel Arbesman shows us how knowledge in most fields evolves systematically and predictably, and how this evolution unfolds in a fascinating way that can have a powerful impact on our lives.
Samuel Arbesman, 2012
2
Half-Life 2: Prima Official Game Guide
Half-Life® 2;: Full Strategy ·Essential strategies and maps for all 14 mission chapters ·Complete bestiary tactics, including how to take on the monsters and Combine forces ·In-depth evidence of all G-Man locations ·Deep combat ...
David S. J. Hodgson, 2005
3
Half Life
Nora and Blanche are conjoined twins.
Shelley Jackson, 2009
4
Half-Life 2: Raising The Bar
·Unprecedented access behind Half-Life and Half-Life 2 ·A forward by Valve founder Gabe Newell ·Hundreds of art, design, preproduction, and other art pieces crammed into the book ·Over a dozen key members of Valve's staff interviewed ...
David SJ. Hodgson, 2004
5
A Half-life of Cardio-pulmonary Function: Poems and Paintings
"Echoing the muscular rhythms of the heartbeat, the poems in this stunning collection alternate between contraction and expansion. Eric Gansworth explores the act of enduring: physically, historically, and culturally.
Eric L. Gansworth, 2008
6
The Half-Life Of Hannah
A #1 ebook phenomenon: over 300,000 downloads! "5 Stars: a nuanced, well-written tale ... the surprises along the way make it unputdownable" - frothyreads.com "5 Stars: I loved this and cannot wait to read more of this author's books" - The ...
Nick Alexander
7
Half-Life
Half-Life usually refers to the length of time it takes for half the atoms of a radioactive substance to disintegrate.
Judy Genandt, 1999
8
The Half Life of Stars
Married, successful, rich, there seems no reason why he would abandon his life. Has he been killed? Has he been kidnapped? Or has he just had enough? Set between London and Miami, this is the story of a family with ghosts to bury.
Louise Wener, 2009
9
Half-Life/Die Already: How I Died & Lived to Tell about It
Half Life / Die Already suggests that the route to real living is dying to self. With non-stop humor and out-there insights, Mark chronicles his journey-in-progress with often hilarious results.
Mark Steele, 2008
10
Half Life
Spanning the world from London to Singapore to India and back again, Half Life is a richly layered tale of love and conflict, friendship and sacrifice, the luminous story of a young woman who risks everything in order to find where she ...
Roopa Farooki, 2010

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «HALF-LIFE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term half-life is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Half-Life 3 release date rumors: 'We're not saying no,' Valve …
Fans of the popular game franchise Half-Life are questioning when the next installment, Half-Life 3, will come out. Half-Life 2: Episode Two, the ... «ChristianToday, Jul 15»
2
Deadmau5 Talks Video Games And Trolling [Video] | Your EDM
Finally, he gives a subtle shoutout to Valve, asking that they dust off the Half-Life with a film adaptation. Watch the full interview below: ... «Your EDM, Jul 15»
3
Plutonium's Magnetism Confirmed in New Study | Physics | Sci …
Plutonium-238 sphere under its own light. With a half-life of 89 years, plutonium-238 is being used in space applications requiring a power ... «Sci-News.com, Jul 15»
4
Half-Life 3 Rumored to Release on VR, Speculations Regarding …
Half-Life 3 has been speculated for quite a long time now. There have been countless rumors about its release, development, use of the Source ... «Day Herald, Jul 15»
5
Half-Life 3 & Left 4 Dead 3: Has Fallout 4 Given Hope Or Should We …
But of course, when you finally see a game emerge from legend and into reality, you can't help but think of Half-Life 3. Valve have been ... «moviepilot.com, Jul 15»
6
New half-life measurements could improve understanding of heavy …
Many of the re-measured half-life values indicated that those currently available in the literature were overestimates - for example, ... «Phys.Org, Jul 15»
7
No half-life in EMA plan
When former Fortescue Metals Group executive Julian Tapp joined uranium explorer Energy and Minerals Australia in March 2013, he watched ... «Business News, Jul 15»
8
Half-Life 2: Episode 2 hits NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV
Gordon and Alyx go to White Forest in the final – so far – chapter in the Half-Life saga, buffed up for NVIDIA's hot set-top box. If you're not up to ... «PCGamesN, Jul 15»
9
'Half-Life 3' coming in 2016? Valve hints next year may see …
The hype and the never-ceasing demand for the third Half-Life game goes on, as fans struggle to accept the fact that Valve did not make any ... «Vine Report, Jul 15»
10
Gordon Freeman Is Why There's No Half Life 3
This week Barney brings in Gordon Freeman in the hopes of getting him back on track with Half-Life 3. Unfortunately Gordon might rather be ... «The Escapist, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Half-Life [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/half-life>. Apr 2024 ».
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