half-life

Meaning

Noun

• The time required for half the nuclei in a sample of a specific isotope to undergo radioactive decay.
• In a chemical reaction, the time required for the concentration of a reactant to fall from a chosen value to half that value.
• The time it takes for a substance (drug, radioactive nuclide, or other) to lose half of its pharmacological, physiologic, or radiological activity.
• The time it takes for an idea or a fashion to lose half of its influential power.

Origin

• half- + life