Chapter 977

Middle Ages , the period of time intervening between the decline of the Roman Empire and the revival of letters. Hallam regards it as beginning with the sixth and ending with the fifteenth century. -- Middle class , in England, people who have an intermediate position between the aristocracy and the artisan class. It includes professional men, bankers, merchants, and small landed proprietors

The middle-class electorate of Great Britain. M. Arnold.

-- Middle distance . (Paint.) See Middle-ground . -- Middle English . See English , n. , 2. -- Middle Kingdom , China. -- Middle oil (Chem.) , that part of the distillate obtained from coal tar which passes over between 170° and 230° Centigrade; -- distinguished from the light , and the heavy or dead , oil . -- Middle passage , in the slave trade, that part of the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and the West Indies. -- Middle post . (Arch.) Same as King-post . -- Middle States , New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware; which, at the time of the formation of the Union, occupied a middle position between the Eastern States (or New England) and the Southern States. [U.S. ] -- Middle term (Logic) , that term of a syllogism with which the two extremes are separately compared, and by means of which they are brought together in the conclusion. Brande . -- Middle tint (Paint.) , a subdued or neutral tint. Fairholt . -- Middle voice . (Gram.) See under Voice . -- Middle watch , the period from midnight to four A. M. ; also, the men on watch during that time. Ham. Nav. Encyc . -- Middle weight , a pugilist, boxer, or wrestler classed as of medium weight, i. e. , over 140 and not over 160 lbs., in distinction from those classed as light weights , heavy weights , etc.

Middle <Xpage=922>

Mid"dle (?) , n. [AS. middel . See Middle , a. ] 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; specif., the waist. Chaucer . "The middle of the land." Judg. ix. 37 .

In this, as in most questions of state, there is a middle . Burke.

Syn. -- See Midst .

Middle-age <Xpage=922>

Mid"dle-age` (?) , [ Middle + age . Cf. Medi\'91val .] Of or pertaining to the Middle Ages; medi\'91val.

Middle-aged <Xpage=922>

Mid"dle-aged` (?) , a. Being about the middle of the ordinary age of man; between 30 and 50 years old. <-- now considered as 40 to 60 [MW10]!! -->

Middle-earth <Xpage=922>

Mid"dle-earth` (?) , n. The world, considered as lying between heaven and hell. [Obs.] <-- a land in Tolkien's "Hobbit" and "Ring" books -->

Shak.

Middle-ground <Xpage=922>

Mid"dle-ground` (?) , n. (Paint.) That part of a picture between the foreground and the background.

Middleman <Xpage=922>

Mid"dle*man (?) , n. ; pl. Middlemen (<?/) .

1. An agent between two parties; a broker; a go-between; any dealer between the producer and the consumer; in Ireland, one who takes land of the proprietors in large tracts, and then rents it out in small portions to the peasantry.

2. A person of intermediate rank; a commoner.

3. (Mil.) The man who occupies a central position in a file of soldiers.

Middlemost <Xpage=922>

Mid"dle*most` (?) , a. [Cf. Midmost .] Being in the middle, or nearest the middle; midmost.

Middler <Xpage=922>

Mid"dler (?) , n. One of a middle or intermediate class in some schools and seminaries.

Middling <Xpage=922>

Mid"dling (?) , a. Of middle rank, state, size, or quality; about equally distant from the extremes; medium; moderate; mediocre; ordinary. "A town of but middling size."

Hallam.

Plainly furnished, as beseemed the middling circumstances of its inhabitants. Hawthorne.

-- Mid"dling*ly , adv. -- Mid"dling*ness , n.

Middlings <Xpage=922>

Mid"dlings (?) , n. pl. 1. A combination of the coarser parts of ground wheat the finest bran, separated from the fine flour and coarse bran in bolting; -- formerly regarded as valuable only for feed; but now, after separation of the bran, used for making the best quality of flour. Middlings contain a large proportion of gluten.

2. In the southern and western parts of the United States, the portion of the hog between the ham and the shoulder; bacon; -- called also middles .

Bartlett.

Middy <Xpage=922>

Mid"dy (?) , n. ; pl. Middies (<?/) . A colloquial abbreviation of midshipman .

Midfeather <Xpage=922>

Mid"feath`er (?) , n. 1. (Steam Boilers) A vertical water space in a fire box or combustion chamber.

2. (Mining) A support for the center of a tunnel.

Midgard <Xpage=922>

Mid"gard` (?) , n. [Icel. mi&edh;gar&edh;r .] (Scand. Myth.) The middle space or region between heaven and hell; the abode of human beings; the earth.

Midge <Xpage=922>

Midge (?) , n. [OE. migge , AS. mycge ; akin to OS. muggia , D. mug , G. m\'81cke , OHG. mucca , Icel. m<?/ , Sw. mygga , mygg , Dan. myg ; perh. named from its buzzing; cf. Gr. <?/ to low, bellow.] (Zo\'94l.)

1. Any one of many small, delicate, long-legged flies of the Chironomus , and allied genera, which do not bite. Their larv\'91 are usually aquatic.

2. A very small fly, abundant in many parts of the United States and Canada, noted for the irritating quality of its bite.

&hand; The name is also applied to various other small flies. See Wheat midge , under Wheat .

Midget <Xpage=922>

Midg"et (?) , n. [Dim. of midge .]

1. (Zo\'94l.) A minute bloodsucking fly. [Local, U. S.]

2. A very diminutive person.

Midgut <Xpage=922>

Mid"gut` (?) , n. [ Mid , a. + gut .] (Anat.) The middle part of the alimentary canal from the stomach, or entrance of the bile duct, to, or including, the large intestine.

Midheaven <Xpage=922>

Mid"heav`en (?) , n. 1. The midst or middle of heaven or the sky.

2. (Astron.) The meridian, or middle line of the heavens; the point of the ecliptic on the meridian.

Midland <Xpage=922>

Mid"land (?) , a. 1. Being in the interior country; distant from the coast or seashore; as, midland towns or inhabitants .

Howell.

2. Surrounded by the land; mediterranean.

And on the midland sea the French had awed. Dryden.

Midland <Xpage=922>

Mid"land (?) , n. The interior or central region of a country; -- usually in the plural.

Drayton.

Midmain <Xpage=922>

Mid"main` (?) , n. The middle part of the main or sea. [Poetic]

Chapman.

Midmost <Xpage=922>

Mid"most` (?) , a. [OE. middemiste . Cf. Foremost .] Middle; middlemost.

Ere night's midmost , stillest hour was past. Byron.

Midnight <Xpage=922>

Mid"night` (?) , n. [AS. midniht .] The middle of the night; twelve o'clock at night.

The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve. Shak.

Midnight <Xpage=922>

Mid"night` , a. Being in, or characteristic of, the middle of the night; as, midnight studies; midnight gloom. " Midnight shout and revelry."

Milton.

Midrash <Xpage=922>

Mid*rash" (?) , n. ; pl. Midrashim (#) , Midrashoth (#) . [Heb., explanation.] A talmudic exposition of the Hebrew law, or of some part of it.

Midrib <Xpage=922>

Mid"rib` (?) , n. (Bot.) A continuation of the petiole, extending from the base to the apex of the lamina of a leaf.

Midriff <Xpage=922>

Mid"riff (?) , n. [AS. midhrif ; midd mid, middle + hrif bowels, womb; akin to OFries. midref midriff, rif , ref , belly, OHG. href body, and to L. corpus body. See Corpse .] (Anat.) See Diaphragm , n. , 2.

Smote him into the midriff with a stone. Milton.

<-- no pos in original. Should be n. --> Mid sea, &or; Mid-sea <Xpage=922>

Mid" sea" , &or; Mid"-sea" (?) . The middle part of the sea or ocean.

Milton.

The Mid-sea , the Mediterranean Sea. [Obs.]

Midship <Xpage=922>

Mid"ship` , a. Of or pertaining to, or being in, the middle of a ship.

Midship beam (Naut.) , the beam or timber upon which the broadest part of a vessel is formed. -- Midship bend , the broadest frame in a vessel. Weale .

Midshipman <Xpage=922>

Mid"ship`man (?) , n. ; pl. Midshipmen (<?/) .

1. (a) Formerly, a kind of naval cadet, in a ship of war, whose business was to carry orders, messages, reports, etc., between the officers of the quarter-deck and those of the forecastle, and render other services as required. (b) In the English naval service, the second rank attained by a combatant officer after a term of service as naval cadet. Having served three and a half years in this rank, and passed an examination, he is eligible to promotion to the rank of lieutenant. (c) In the United States navy, the lowest grade of officers in line of promotion, being graduates of the Naval Academy awaiting promotion to the rank of ensign.

2. (Zo\'94l.) An American marine fish of the genus Porichthys , allied to the toadfish.

Cadet midshipman , formerly a title distinguishing a cadet line officer from a cadet engineer at the U. S. Naval Academy. See under Cadet . -- Cadet midshipman , formerly, a naval cadet who had served his time, passed his examinations, and was awaiting promotion; -- now called, in the United States, midshipman ; in England, sublieutenant .

Midships <Xpage=922>

Mid"ships` , adv. [For amidships .] (Naut.) In the middle of a ship; -- properly amidships .

Midships <Xpage=922>

Mid"ships` , n. pl. (Naut.) The timbers at the broadest part of the vessel.

R. H. Dana, Jr.

Midst <Xpage=922>

Midst (?) , n. [From middest , in the middest , for older in middes , where -s is adverbial (orig. forming a genitive), or still older a midde , a midden , on midden . See Mid , and cf. Amidst .]

1. The interior or central part or place; the middle; -- used chiefly in the objective case after in ; as, in the midst of the forest .

And when the devil had thrown him in the midst , he came out of him. Luke iv. 35.

There is nothing... in the midst [of the play] which might not have been placed in the beginning. Dryden.

2. Hence, figuratively, the condition of being surrounded or beset; the press; the burden; as, in the midst of official duties; in the midst of secular affairs.

&hand; The expressions in our midst , in their midst , etc., are avoided by some good writers, the forms in the midst of us , in the midst of them , etc., being preferred.

Syn. -- Midst , Middle . Midst in present usage commonly denotes a part or place surrounded on enveloped by or among other parts or objects (see Amidst ); while middle is used of the center of length, or surface, or of a solid, etc. We say in the midst of a thicket; in the middle of a line, or the middle of a room; in the midst of darkness; in the middle of the night.

Midst <Xpage=922>

Midst , prep. In the midst of; amidst.

Shak.

Midst <Xpage=922>

Midst , adv. In the middle. [R.]

Milton.

Midsummer <Xpage=922>

Mid"sum`mer (?) , n. [AS. midsumor .] The middle of summer.

Shak.

Midsummer daisy (Bot.) , the oxeye daisy.

Midward <Xpage=922>

Mid"ward (?) , a. Situated in the middle.

Midward <Xpage=922>

Mid"ward , adv. In or toward the midst.

Midway <Xpage=922>

Mid"way` (?) , n. The middle of the way or distance; a middle way or course.

Shak.

Paths indirect, or in the midway faint. Milton.

Midway <Xpage=922>

Mid"way` , a. Being in the middle of the way or distance; as, the midway air .

Shak.

Midway <Xpage=922>

Mid"way` , adv. In the middle of the way or distance; half way. "She met his glance midway ."

Dryden.

Midweek <Xpage=922>

Mid"week` (?) , n. The middle of the week. Also used adjectively.

Midwife <Xpage=922>

Mid"wife` (?) , n. ; pl. Midwives (#) . [OE. midwif , fr. AS. mid with (akin to Gr. <?/) + <?/ woman, wife. Properly, the woman or wife who is attendant upon a woman in childbirth. See Meta- , and Wife .] A woman who assists other women in childbirth; a female practitioner of the obstetric art.

Midwife <Xpage=922>

Mid"wife` , v. t. To assist in childbirth.

Midwife <Xpage=922>

Mid"wife` , v. i. To perform the office of midwife.

Midwifery <Xpage=922>

Mid"wife`ry (?; 277) , n. 1. The art or practice of assisting women in childbirth; obstetrics.

2. Assistance at childbirth; help or co\'94peration in production.

Midwinter <Xpage=922>

Mid"win`ter (?) , n. [AS. midwinter .] The middle of winter.

Dryden.

<page="923"> Page 923

Midwive <Xpage=923>

Mid"wive` (?) , v. t. To midwife. [Obs.]

Mien <Xpage=923>

Mien (?) , n. [F. mine ; perh. from sane source as mener to lead; cf. E. demean , menace , mine , n.] Aspect; air; manner; demeanor; carriage; bearing.

Vice is a monster of so frightful mien , As, to be hated, needs but to be seen. Pope.

Miff <Xpage=923>

Miff (?) , n. [Cf. Prov. G. muff sullenness, sulkiness, muffen to be silky, muff\'8bg sullen, pouting.] A petty falling out; a tiff; a quarrel; offense.

Fielding.

Miff <Xpage=923>

Miff , v. t. To offend slightly. [Colloq.]

Might <Xpage=923>

Might (?) , imp. of May . [AS. meahte , mihte .]

Might <Xpage=923>

Might , n. [AS. meaht , miht , from the root of magan to be able, E. may ; akin to D. magt , OS. maht , G. macht , Icel. m\'bettr , Goth. mahts . <?/<?/<?/<?/. See May , v. ] Force or power of any kind, whether of body or mind; energy or intensity of purpose, feeling, or action; means or resources to effect an object; strength; force; power; ability; capacity.

What so strong, But wanting rest, will also want of might ? Spenser.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might . Deut. vi. 5.

With might and main . See under 2d Main .

Mightful <Xpage=923>

Might"ful (?) , a. Mighty. [Obs.]

Shak.

Mightily <Xpage=923>

Might"i*ly (?) , adv. [From Mighty .]

1. In a mighty manner; with might; with great earnestness; vigorously; powerfully.

Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily . Col. i. 29.

2. To a great degree; very much.

Practical jokes amused us mightily . Hawthorne.

Mightiness <Xpage=923>

Might"i*ness , n. 1. The quality of being mighty; possession of might; power; greatness; high dignity.

How soon this mightiness meets misery. Shak.

2. Highness; excellency; -- with a possessive pronoun, a title of dignity; as, their high mightinesses .

Mightless <Xpage=923>

Might"less , a. Without; weak. [Obs.]

Mighty <Xpage=923>

Might"y (?) , a. [ Compar. Mightier (?) ; superl. Mightiest .] [AS. meahtig , mihtig ; akin to G. m\'84chtig , Goth. mahteigs . See Might , n. ]

1. Possessing might; having great power or authority.

Wise in heart, and mighty in strength. Job ix. 4.

2. Accomplished by might; hence, extraordinary; wonderful. "His mighty works."

Matt. xi. 20.

3. Denoting and extraordinary degree or quality in respect of size, character, importance, consequences, etc. "A mighty famine." Luke xv. 14 . "Giants of mighty bone." Milton .

Mighty was their fuss about little matters. Hawthorne.

Mighty <Xpage=923>

Might"y , n. ; pl. Mighties (#) . A warrior of great force and courage . [R. & Obs.]

1 Chron. xi. 12.

Mighty <Xpage=923>

Might"y , adv. In a great degree; very. [Colloq.] "He was mighty methodical."

Jeffrey.

We have a mighty pleasant garden. Doddridge.

Migniard <Xpage=923>

Mign"iard (?) , a. [F. mignard , akin to mignon . See Minion .] Soft; dainty. [Obs.]

B. Jonson.

Migniardise <Xpage=923>

Mign"iard*ise (?) , n. [F. mignardise .] Delicate fondling. [Obs.]

B. Jonson.

Mignon <Xpage=923>

Mi"gnon (?) , a. [F.] See 3d Minion .

Mignon <Xpage=923>

Mi"gnon , v. t. To flatter. [R. & Obs.]

Danie<?/.

Mignonette <Xpage=923>

Mi`gnon*ette" (?) , n. [F. mignonnette , dim. of mignon darling. See 2d Minion .] (Bot.) A plant ( Reseda odorata ) having greenish flowers with orange-colored stamens, and exhaling a delicious fragrance. In Africa it is a low shrub, but further north it is usually an annual herb.

Mignonette pepper , coarse pepper.

Migraine <Xpage=923>

Mi*graine" (?) , n. [F.] Same as Megrim . -- Mi*grain"ous , a. <-- now the preferred term -->

Migrant <Xpage=923>

Mi"grant (?) , a. [L. migrans , p. pr. of migrare . See Migrate .] Migratory. Sir T. Browne . -- n. A migratory bird or other animal.

Migrate <Xpage=923>

Mi"grate (?) , v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Migrated (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Migrating (?) .] [L. migratus , p. p. of migrare to migrate, transfer.]

1. To remove from one country or region to another, with a view to residence; to change one's place of residence; to remove; as, the Moors who migrated from Africa into Spain; to migrate to the West.