dimidiate
/dɪˈmɪdɪeɪt
/verb [with object] Heraldry
1(Of a coat of arms or charge) adjoin (another) so that only half of each is visible.The crest has an oak tree dimidiated with a wheatsheaf, bound together by a blue and white wave....
- In the upper part of the Shield a lion passant guardant dimidiates the hulk of a medieval ship.
- These were, in the Portuguese version, per pale argent and vert, two roses dimidiating as many fleurs-de-lis, in dexter canton a dove volant argent.
1.1 (as adjective dimidiated) (Of a charge) having only one half depicted.The bordures themselves were often dimidiated or even quartered and various lines of partition were used, so that the inside of the bordure might be engrailed or wavy....
- The arms of Connacht - a dimidiated (divided in half from top to bottom) eagle and armed hand - are recorded as such on a map of Galway dated 1651, now in the library of Trinity College, Dublin.
- Francoise's arms in Louis's Book of Hours (Fig.17 in body of article) are also dimidiated.
Origin
Late 16th century: from Latin dimidiat- 'halved', from the verb dimidiare, from dimidium 'half'.