Definitions for middle
ˈmɪd lmid·dle

Princeton's WordNet(4.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. center, centre, middle, heart, eyenoun

   an area that is approximately central within some larger region

   "it is in the center of town"; "they ran forward into the heart of the struggle"; "they were in the eye of the storm"

2. middlenoun

   an intermediate part or section

   "A whole is that which has beginning, middle, and end"- Aristotle

3. middle, midriff, midsectionnoun

   the middle area of the human torso (usually in front)

   "young American women believe that a bare midriff is fashionable"

4. middleadjective

   time between the beginning and the end of a temporal period

   "the middle of the war"; "rain during the middle of April"

5. in-between, mediate, middleadjective

   being neither at the beginning nor at the end in a series

   "adolescence is an awkward in-between age"; "in a mediate position"; "the middle point on a line"

6. center(a), halfway, middle(a), midwayadjective

   equally distant from the extremes

7. middleadjective

   of a stage in the development of a language or literature between earlier and later stages

   "Middle English is the English language from about 1100 to 1500"; "Middle Gaelic"

8. middleverb

   between an earlier and a later period of time

   "in the middle years"; "in his middle thirties"

9. middleverb

   put in the middle

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. middlenoun

   A centre, midpoint

   The middle of a circle is the point which has the same distance to every point of circle.

   Etymology: From middel, from middel, middle, from midjilan, a diminutive of midjō, from medhy-. Cognate with West Frisian middel, Dutch middel, German mittel, Mittel, middel. Related also to medel, meðal. See also mid.

2. middlenoun

   The part between the beginning and the end.

   Etymology: From middel, from middel, middle, from midjilan, a diminutive of midjō, from medhy-. Cognate with West Frisian middel, Dutch middel, German mittel, Mittel, middel. Related also to medel, meðal. See also mid.

3. middlenoun

   the middle stump

   Etymology: From middel, from middel, middle, from midjilan, a diminutive of midjō, from medhy-. Cognate with West Frisian middel, Dutch middel, German mittel, Mittel, middel. Related also to medel, meðal. See also mid.

4. middlenoun

   The central part of a human body.

   Etymology: From middel, from middel, middle, from midjilan, a diminutive of midjō, from medhy-. Cognate with West Frisian middel, Dutch middel, German mittel, Mittel, middel. Related also to medel, meðal. See also mid.

5. middleadjective

   Being in the middle or in-between; as middle point, middle name, Middle English, Middle Ages, middle weight, etc.

   Etymology: From middel, from middel, middle, from midjilan, a diminutive of midjō, from medhy-. Cognate with West Frisian middel, Dutch middel, German mittel, Mittel, middel. Related also to medel, meðal. See also mid.

6. middleadjective

   Central to.

   Etymology: From middel, from middel, middle, from midjilan, a diminutive of midjō, from medhy-. Cognate with West Frisian middel, Dutch middel, German mittel, Mittel, middel. Related also to medel, meðal. See also mid.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Middleadjective

   equally distant from the extreme either of a number of things or of one thing; mean; medial; as, the middle house in a row; a middle rank or station in life; flowers of middle summer; men of middle age

   Etymology: [OE. middel, AS. middel; akin to D. middel, OHG. muttil, G. mittel. 271. See Mid, a.]

2. Middleadjective

   intermediate; intervening

   Etymology: [OE. middel, AS. middel; akin to D. middel, OHG. muttil, G. mittel. 271. See Mid, a.]

3. Middleadjective

   the point or part equally distant from the extremities or exterior limits, as of a line, a surface, or a solid; an intervening point or part in space, time, or order of series; the midst; central portion

   Etymology: [OE. middel, AS. middel; akin to D. middel, OHG. muttil, G. mittel. 271. See Mid, a.]

4. Middleadjective

   the waist

   Etymology: [OE. middel, AS. middel; akin to D. middel, OHG. muttil, G. mittel. 271. See Mid, a.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Middle

   Middle is one of six sheadings in the Isle of Man and consists of the parishes of Braddan, Marown and Santon or Santan. It lies to the east of the island. Historically it consisted of Braddan, Santan and Onchan. It is also a House of Keys constituency, electing one MHK.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Middle

   mid′l, adj. equally distant from the extremes: intermediate: intervening: (gram.) intermediate between active and passive, reflexive.—n. the middle point or part: midst: central portion, waist.—adjs. Midd′le-aged, of or about the middle period of life (from about 35 to 50); Midd′le-class, pertaining to, or included in, the middle class.—ns. Midd′le-earth (Shak.), the earth, considered as placed between the upper and lower regions; Midd′leman, one who stands in the middle between two persons: an agent who does business between two parties: in Ireland, one who rents land in large tracts, and lets it in small portions to the peasantry.—adjs. Midd′lemost, Mid′most (B.), nearest the middle; Midd′le-sized, of middle or average size.—ns. Midd′le-watch, the period between midnight and 4 A.M.; Midd′le-weight, a boxer or jockey of intermediate weight, between light and heavy weight.—adj. Midd′ling, of middle rate, state, size, or quality: about equally distant from the extremes: moderate: (Scot.) not in very good health: fairly well or prosperous.—adv. moderately.—n. Midd′lingness, mediocrity.—n.pl. Midd′lings, the coarser part of ground wheat.—Middle Ages, the time between the downfall of the western Roman empire, about 476 A.D., and the Reformation in the first quarter of the 16th century, or even earlier—in the later half of the preceding century, when printing was invented, America discovered, and the revival of learning took place; Middle class, that part of the people which comes between the nobility and the working-class; Middle distance (same as Middle ground); Middle English, English as spoken and written from 1350 to 1500 or 1550; Middle ground, the central portion of a picture—that is, between the foreground and background; Middle Kingdom, China; Middle passage, the voyage across the Atlantic from Africa to the West Indies, which was a time of horror on board a slave-ship; Middle States, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware; Middle term (logic), that term of a syllogism which appears both in the major premise and the minor, but not in the conclusion.—Middle-class schools, schools for the higher education of the middle class, intermediate between the primary schools and the large public schools or the universities. [A.S. middel—mid; Dut. middel, Ger. mittel.]

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. middle

   A position of balance.

   The middle of our body is the position of balance.

   Submitted by MaryC on March 8, 2020  

Matched Categories

1. • Area
   • Linguistics
   • Part
   • Put

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'middle' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1513

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'middle' in Written Corpus Frequency: #920

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'middle' in Nouns Frequency: #776

4. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'middle' in Adjectives Frequency: #174

How to pronounce middle?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say middle in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of middle in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of middle in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of middle in a Sentence

1. Peterson Lent:

   They were not planning for this, they may have gotten a call in the middle of the night saying ‘Take this child or they’re going to end up in foster care.’.

2. President Tayyip Erdogan:

   Since this is the case, it is Trump who needs to find the middle ground.

3. Donald Trump:

   I'd go through a process and get it declassified frankly ... certainly waterboarding at a minimum, they're chopping off heads of Christians and many other people in the Middle East. They're chopping heads off, they laugh at us when they hear we're not going to approve waterboarding and then they'll have a James Foley and others where they cut off their heads.

4. Benjamin Netanyahu:

   The Middle East is plagued by anti-Western, anti-democratic and anti-American extremism. Terrorists brutally behead their shackled captives before video cameras. Despots lead their people in chants of 'Death to America' while building intercontinental ballistic missiles to reach America.

5. Hiranmayi Srinivasan:

   I always half-jokingly say, that to me, the US is the East Coast and California and I don't know what's going on in the middle, but as someone who has only ever lived on the coasts, the middle of the country does seem like a foreign place to me.

Popularity rank by frequency of use