English word origin

Etymology of mid

4 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 4 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

noun

The middle of the battlefield.

adv

To or into the middle of the battlefield.

adj

Occupying a middle position; middle. · Made with a somewhat elevated position of some certain part of the tongue, in relation to the palate; midway between the high and the low; said of certain vowel sounds, such as, [e o ɛ ɔ]. · Mediocre; of middling quality. · Trashy; low-quality.

prep

Amid.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *me Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *-dʰe Proto-Indo-European *médʰi Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos Proto-Germanic *midjaz Proto-West Germanic *midi Old English midd Middle English mid English mid Inherited from Middle English mid, midde, from Old English midd (“mid, middle, midway”), from Proto-West Germanic *midi, from Proto-Germanic *midjaz (“mid, middle”, adjective), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between, in the middle, middle”). Cognate with Dutch midden (“in the middle”), German Mitte (“center, middle, mean”), Icelandic miður (“middle”, adjective), Latin medius (“middle”, noun and adjective). See also middle. The slang sense may be influenced by terms such as middling and midwit.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mentionmidenm
Inherited-form mentionmiddang · mid, middle, midway
Inherited-form mention*midigmw-pro
Inherited-form mention*midjazgem-pro · mid, middle
Inherited-form mention*médʰyosine-pro · between, in the middle, middle
Cognate mentionmiddennl · in the middle
Cognate mentionMittede · center, middle, mean
Cognate mentionmiðuris · middle
Cognate mentionmediusla · middle

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:mid<id:middle>",
        "id": "middle",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *me\nProto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-?\nProto-Indo-European *-dʰe\nProto-Indo-European *médʰi\nProto-Indo-European *-os\nProto-Indo-European *médʰyos\nProto-Germanic *midjaz\nProto-West Germanic *midi\nOld English midd\nMiddle English mid\nEnglish mid\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*midjaz\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*midi\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"midd\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"mid\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"mid\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"middle\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"mid\" id=\"English:_middle\">"
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      "args": {
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        "2": "i",
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        "4": "",
        "5": "",
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        "pos": "",
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        "ts": "",
        "id": "",
        "sc": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
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      },
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    },
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        "pos": "adjective"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *midjaz (“mid, middle”, adjective)"
    },
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    },
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      },
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        "2": "Mitte",
        "t": "center, middle, mean"
      },
      "expansion": "German Mitte (“center, middle, mean”)"
    },
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      "name": "cog",
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        "2": "miður",
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      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic miður (“middle”, adjective)"
    },
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      "name": "cog",
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        "1": "la",
        "2": "medius",
        "t": "middle",
        "pos": "noun and adjective"
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    ],
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      "*dʰeh₁-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dʰeh₁-#Proto-Indo-European:_do"
    ],
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      "*-dʰe",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-dʰe#Proto-Indo-European:_locative_suffix"
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      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-os#Proto-Indo-European:_thematic"
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      "mid",
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    ],
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      "midd",
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    ],
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    ],
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      "midwit",
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    ]
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        "Made with a somewhat elevated position of some certain part of the tongue, in relation to the palate; midway between the high and the low; said of certain vowel sounds, such as, [e o ɛ ɔ].",
        "Mediocre; of middling quality.",
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

noun

Middle.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English mid, midde, from Old English midd (“midst, middle”, noun), from Proto-Germanic *midją, *midjǭ, *midjô (“middle, center”) < *midjaz, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between, in the middle, middle”). Cognate with German Mitte (“center, middle, midst”), Danish midje (“middle”), Icelandic midja (“middle”). See also median, Latin mediānus.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mentionmidenm
Inherited-form mentionmiddang
Inherited-form mention*midjągem-pro
Inherited-form mention*médʰyosine-pro
Cognate mentionMittede
Cognate mentionmidjeda
Cognate mentionmidjais
Cognate mentionmediānusla

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    },
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    [
      "mid",
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      "midde",
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      "midd",
      "midd#Old_English"
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      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/midjǭ"
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    [
      "*midjô",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/midjô"
    ],
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      "*midjaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/midjaz"
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Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗

noun

A mid-range.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Clipping of mid-range.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Source etymology 4

Original entry ↗

prep

With.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From or representing German mit, and/or perhaps German Low German mid. Although Middle English had a native preposition mid with this same meaning ("with"), it had fallen out of general use by the mid 1400s and survived into the modern English period only in sporadic use and the compounds midwife and theremid.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Derivation mentionmitde

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for mid →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

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Machine-source provenance

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Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-bWlk