Learn English – the word for “dividing into two unequal parts”

word-request

Halving is the action of dividing something to two halves, i.e., they are assumed to be of equal sizes.

What is the word for the action of dividing something into two parts, that are not necessarily identical?

Best Answer

One (somewhat archaic) option is

Cleave -- "to split or divide by or as if by a cutting blow, especially along a natural line of division, as the grain of wood." (Dictionary.com)

This doesn't explicitly create exactly two parts, but generally if you split something with a single blow, you'll only end up with two parts.

An common phrase that does explicitly specify the number of resulting parts is to split (something) in two