ˈmȯiəd.ē, -ətē, -i noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English moite, from Middle French moité, from Late Latin medietat-, medietas, from medie- (from Latin medius middle) + -tat-, -tas -ty — more at mid
1.
a. : one of two equal portions : half
the site was conveyed by lease in two distinct moieties — E.K.Chambers
b. : one of two approximately equal portions
war, pestilence, and famine had consumed … the moiety of the human species — Edward Gibbon
2.
a. : one of the portions into which something is divided : component , part
the psychopathic moiety of the personality — British Journal of Delinquency
the hemoglobin molecule contains four heme moieties — Lionel Whitby
specifically : a share paid by the government to an informer out of duties and penalties collected because of his help
the moiety paid to an informer must be 25 percent of the value of the amount recovered — Chicago Tribune
b. obsolete : a small portion : fraction
thine being but a moiety of my grief — Shakespeare
3. : one of two basic complementary tribal subdivisions ; especially : one (as a phratry) of two unilateral usually exogamous groups