mid

¹

[ mid ]

adjective

1. being at or near the middle point of:

   We visited in mid autumn to catch the leaves at their best.

   The group was active in the mid 1890s.

2. being or occupying a middle place or position:

   These socks hit at the mid calf, making them good for wearing with boots.

   The bark mid trunk has been eaten away by insects.

3. Phonetics. (of a vowel) articulated with an opening above the tongue relatively intermediate between those for high and low: the vowels of beet, bet, and bot are respectively high, mid, and low. Compare high ( def 23 ), low ¹( def 30 ).
4. Slang. mediocre, unimpressive, or disappointing:

   Everyone thinks that show is so great, but I've always thought it was mid.

   The shoes are really mid but the shirt is cute.

noun

1. Archaic. the middle.

mid

²

or 'mid

[ mid ]

preposition

1. amid.

mid

³

[ mid ]

noun

, Informal.

1. a midshipman.

mid-

⁴

1. a combining form representing mid1 in compound words:

   midday; mid-Victorian.

mid.

⁵

abbreviation for

1. middle.

Mid.

⁶

abbreviation for

1. Midshipman.

M.I.D.

⁷

abbreviation for

1. Master of Industrial Design.

mid.

¹

abbreviation for

1. middle

mid

²

/ mɪd /

preposition

1. a poetic word for amid

mid

³

/ mɪd /

adjective

1. phonetics of, relating to, or denoting a vowel whose articulation lies approximately halfway between high and low, such as e in English bet

noun

1. an archaic word for middle

mid-

⁴

combining_form

1. indicating a middle part, point, time, or position

   mid-April

   midday

   mid-Victorian

Mid.

⁵

abbreviation for

1. Midshipman

Word History and Origins

Origin of mid¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English midd- (both an adjective and the initial element of a compound; modern spellings such as mid autumn are probably a reanalysis of the combining form mid- as an adjective); cognate with Old High German mitti, Old Norse mithr, Gothic midjis; akin to Greek mésos, méssos, méttos, Latin medius, Old Church Slavonic mežda “limit, border,” Old Irish mide, Sanskrit madhya “middle”; mid-

Origin of mid²

By shortening

Origin of mid³

Middle English, Old English; mid ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of mid¹

C12 midre (inflected form of midd, unattested); related to Old Norse mithr, Gothic midjis

Origin of mid²

Old English; see middle , mid ¹

Related Words

• average
• boring
• dull
• mediocre
• middling