Meaning

noun extending the legs at right angles to the trunk (one in front and the other in back)

noun a bottle containing half the usual amount

noun a promised or claimed share of loot or money

originAttested since about 1567, from Middle Dutch splitten (“to split”) and/or Middle Low German splitten (“to split”), both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *splittjan, an intensive form of Proto-West Germanic *splītan (“to split”), from Proto-Germanic *splītaną (whence Danish splitte, Low German splieten, German spleißen), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pley- (“to split, splice”). Compare Middle…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0