middle

A2 Topic:Space, Position & Direction

US /ˈmɪdl̩/ UK /ˈmɪdl̩/ See IPA manual

Freq #810

Meanings

1

noun
The part of something that is the same distance from both ends or all sides.

I woke up in the middle of the night.
2

adj
Located in the centre, between two ends or sides.

She sat in the middle seat of the row.
3

noun
The central part of the body around the waist.

He tied the belt around his middle.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the part of something that... center centre midst

3 noun · the central part of the... waist

More midpoint

Word family

Forms middles

Derived forms middle-earthmiddlebournemiddlebrookmiddleburgmiddleburymiddlemountmiddlesbroughmiddlesexmiddletonmiddletownmiddlewichphalange

Related forms mid-middle-middling

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

middle age
the period of life between youth and old age, roughly 40 to 65

Adjective + noun
middle class
the social group between the upper and working classes

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (4)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English middel, from Old English middel (“middle, centre, waist”), from Proto-Germanic *midlą, *midilą, *medalą (“middle”), a diminutive of Proto-Germanic *midjō (“middle, midst”) (compare *midjaz (“mid, middle”, adjective)), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between, in the middle, middle”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Middel (“middle”), West Frisian mul (“middle”), Dutch middel (“means; medicine, cure”), German mittel (“middle”, adjective), Mittel (“means; medicament, remedy”, noun), Luxembourgish Mëttel (“means, method; medicament”), Vilamovian mytuł (“middle”), Yi…

middel Old English *midlą Proto-Germanic *midjō Proto-Germanic *médʰyos Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Space, Position & Direction

External links

# middle

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈmɪdl̩/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈmɪdl̩/
**Frequency rank:** 810

## Meanings
1. The part of something that is the same distance from both ends or all sides.
2. Located in the centre, between two ends or sides.
3. The central part of the body around the waist.

## Examples
- I woke up in the middle of the night.
- She sat in the middle seat of the row.
- He tied the belt around his middle.

## Synonyms
- center
- midpoint

## Derived Forms
- middle-earth
- middlebourne
- middlebrook
- middleburg
- middlebury
- middlemount
- middlesbrough
- middlesex
- middleton
- middletown
- middlewich
- phalange

## Related Forms
- mid-
- middle-
- middling

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: middel
- Root: *midlą
- Root: *midjō
- Root: *médʰyos

## Etymology
From Middle English middel, from Old English middel (“middle, centre, waist”), from Proto-Germanic *midlą, *midilą, *medalą (“middle”), a diminutive of Proto-Germanic *midjō (“middle, midst”) (compare *midjaz (“mid, middle”, adjective)), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between, in the middle, middle”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Middel (“middle”), West Frisian mul (“middle”), Dutch middel (“means; medicine, cure”), German mittel (“middle”, adjective), Mittel (“means; medicament, remedy”, noun), Luxembourgish Mëttel (“means, method; medicament”), Vilamovian mytuł (“middle”), Yi…

## AI Etymology
Middle comes from Middle English middel, from Old English middel (“middle, centre, waist”), from Proto-Germanic *midlą, *midilą, *medalą (“middle”), a diminutive of Proto-Germanic *midjō (“middle, midst”) (compare *midjaz (“mid, middle”, adjective)), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between, in the middle, middle”). In present-day English its meanings include the part of something that is the same distance from both ends or all sides, located in the centre, between two ends or sides, and the central part of the body around the waist. The historical chain runs through middel (Middle English), middel (Old English), *midlą (Proto-Germanic), *midjō (Proto-Germanic), and *médʰyos (Proto-Indo-European).

## Topics
- Space, Position & Direction

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