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middle

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

Time between the beginning and the end of a temporal period.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

miduhl

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈmɪdəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Time between the beginning and the end of a temporal period

  2. The part between the beginning and the end.

  3. A centre, midpoint.

  4. The central part of a human body; the waist.

  5. A sheading of the Isle of Man.

adjective

  1. Central.

  2. Located in the middle; in between.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Time between the beginning and the end of a temporal period

Used this way, middle is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use middle

  • “A whole is that which has beginning, middle, and end"- Aristotle.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

middle eastmiddle classmiddle schoolmiddle agemiddle earmiddle groundmiddle westmiddle finger

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • middle cerebral arterynounCompound term

    One of two branches of the internal carotid artery.

  • middle cerebral veinnounCompound term

    Either of two cerebral veins.

  • middle-classadjectiveCompound term

    Occupying a socioeconomic position intermediate between those of the lower classes and the wealthy.

  • middle distancenounCompound term

    The part of a scene between the foreground and the background.

  • middle earnounCompound term

    The main cavity of the ear.

  • middle-ear deafnessnounCompound term

    Hearing loss due to problems with the bones of the middle ear.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: time between the beginning and the end of a temporal period

midway

adjective

Sense: central

intermediate

Antonyms

Sense: time between the beginning and the end of a temporal period

endearlyInformallateInformalstarting time

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.