middle

== English == === Alternative forms === myddle (obsolete) === Etymology === From Middle English myddel, 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”). === Pronunciation === (UK) IPA(key): /ˈmɪdl̩/, [ˈmɪ.dəɫ], [ˈmɪ.dʊ] (General South African) IPA(key): [ˈmɨdl̩] (US) IPA(key): /ˈmɪdl̩/, [ˈmɪ.ɾɫ̩] (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈmɪdəl/, [ˈmɪ̝.dəɫ], [ˈmɪ̝.dʊ], [ˈmɪ̝.ɾ-] (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈmɘdɘl/, [ˈmə.dɯ(ɫ)], [ˈmə.ɾ-] Rhymes: -ɪdəl === Noun === middle (plural middles) A centre, midpoint. The part between the beginning and the end. (cricket) The middle stump. The central part of a human body; the waist. (grammar) The middle voice. (politics) the center of the political spectrum. An essay on social or literary issues in a newspaper or magazine, originally placed between the leading articles and the reviews. ==== Synonyms ==== (centre): centre, center, midpoint; see also Thesaurus:midpoint (part between the beginning and the end): centre, center, midst ==== Translations ==== === Adjective === middle (no comparative, superlative middlemost or (colloquial, childish) middlest) Located in the middle; in between. Central. (grammar) Pertaining to the middle voice. ==== Synonyms ==== See also Thesaurus:intermediate ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === middle (third-person singular simple present middles, present participle middling, simple past and past participle middled) (obsolete, transitive) To take a middle view of. [17th–18th c.] (obsolete, nautical, transitive) To double (a rope) into two equal portions; to fold in the middle. [19th c.] (cricket, transitive) To strike (the ball) with the middle portion of the face of the bat. == Middle English == === Adjective === middle alternative form of myddel