I. ˈ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ noun
Usage: often attributive
1. : half step 2
2.
a. : any of the shades of gray between the darkest and the lightest parts of a photographic image — called also middletone
b.
[so called from the fact that this process was the first that was successful in reproducing the halftones of a photo]
: a photoengraving made from an image photographed through a screen having a lattice of horizontal and vertical lines and then etched so that the details of the image are reproduced in fine dots with the darker areas appearing as heavy and concentrated dots and the lighter areas as fine and diffused dots ; also : a print made from a halftone — compare dropout
II. noun
: an image (as one printed on an offset press or laser printer) that renders smooth variations of color in an original by means of dots assigned to areas of the image electronically