Refers to the middle point in space, time, or progress. Also used as a suffix to mean 'in the middle of'.
He left the meeting halfway through.
道の半ばにある店で休憩した。
We took a break at a shop midway along the road.
half (of); one half
Used to indicate a half portion or roughly half of something.
参加者の半ばは女性だった。
Half of the participants were women.
partly; half (done, jokingly)
Adverbial use meaning something is done partially, not completely, or with mixed feelings. Often used with verbs like 諦める, 冗談で言う, etc.
半ば諦めながらも、最後まで頑張った。
Though I had half given up, I kept trying until the end.
彼は半ば冗談でそう言った。
He said that half jokingly.
Adverbial use meaning 'for the most part' or 'almost entirely'. Often used when something is nearly complete or mostly the case.
工事は半ば完了している。
The construction is mostly complete.
彼の話は半ば本当だった。
His story was almost true.
I moved into a new apartment in mid-September.
He gave up on the marathon halfway through.
I was practically forced to take part.
He is a man in his mid-thirties.
His words were half serious, half joking.
You could say the plan was mostly a success.
半ば is commonly used for the middle of a time period (like 8月半ば, mid-August), whereas 中ほど is more general and can describe space, time, or sequence.
be roughly equal; balance out; cancel each other out