middlingn.¹

Brit.

/ˈmɪdl̩ɪŋ/,

/ˈmɪdlɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈmɪd(ə)lɪŋ/

Forms: Old English midlung, early Middle English mydeling, Middle English myddelyng, 1600s (1700s U.S.) midling, 1700s– middling, 1800s– middleing (English regional), 1800s– middlen (English regional), 1800s– middlin (English regional), 1800s– middlin' (English regional); U.S. regional (chiefly in sense 4) 1700s middleing, 1800s midlin, 1800s– middlin, 1900s– middlin'; also Scottish pre-1700 midlyng, pre-1700 mydlin, pre-1700 mydlyn, pre-1700 1700s midling.

Origin: Probably formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: middle n., -ing suffix¹; middle v., -ing suffix¹, middling adj.¹

Etymology: Probably either < middle n. + -ing suffix¹, or < middle v. (although this is not attested in Old English: see discussion at that entry) + -ing suffix¹, subsequently reinforced by association with middling adj.¹; in some later senses (compare senses 3 and 5) probably directly < middling adj.¹ Compare Middle Dutch middelinc mediator, Middle Low German middelinc the middle finger. Compare middling n.²In Older Scots the word is usually found in the plural.

a. = middle n. in various senses; an intermediate thing; a middle or intermediate part or stage; a mean, a middle term. Also: a person of middle age. Now rare.In quot. a1225 apparently the name of a local stream.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > condition of being mean or average > [noun] > mean

middlingOE

middlelOE

meanc1450

neutralityc1475

moyen1484

temper?1523

mediety1573

medium1593

temperature1598

temperament1604

intermedial1605

median1635

intermediate1650

average1737

middle term1754

mesne1821

intermediacy1836

intermediary1865

OE Lambeth Psalter: Canticles ii. 236 In dimidio dierum meorum : on midlunge daga minra.

OE Lambeth Psalter ciii. 10 Inter medium montium pertransibunt aquae : betweox midlunge munta þurhfarað wæteru.

a1225 (?OE) Bounds (Sawyer 682) in S. E. Kelly Charters of Abingdon Abbey, Pt. 2 (2001) 349 Þanan on Mær dic, &lang dic on Mydeling.

?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 0 Ðat..he..defende me yn giffyng a happy bygynnyng & yn gouernyng more happy myddelyng..þat yt be made profitable in ledyng þe best endyng.

c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Gouernaunce of Princis (1993) xxx. 105 Of metis thare is sum yat is sutile, and othir yat is rude, and othir yat ar mydlinis.

1609 A. Gardyne Garden Grave & Godlie Flowres sig. G Some yong, some midlings,..Some in the verie Euening of their age.

1615 J. Boys Expos. Fest. Epist. & Gospels in Wks. (1630) 573 John Baptist, the last of the Prophets, and first of Apostles, a midling as it were betweene both.

1620 T. Granger Syntagma Logicum 89 But the midlings are disparates both to the extremes, and among themselues.

1987 A. R. Ammons Sumerian Vistas 6 We went for a raw walk in the high middling of the afternoon.

†b. In plural. Pins of medium size. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [noun] > sewing > equipment for > pin

pina1275

middlings1543

minikin1574

corking-pin?1690

lill1882

1543 MS Rec. Aberdeen XVIII, in Jamieson's Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (1880) III. 275/1 xviiij paperis of prenis, the price xxvij sh., ane bout of midlyngis the price vj. sh., & tua hankis of wyir the price xxiiij sh.

1824 M. R. Mitford Our Village I. 227 Pincushions..capable..of containing..a whole paper of short-whites and another of middlings.

†c. The central section of a gunstock (see quot. 1875). Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1436/1 Middling, that portion of a gun-stock between the grasp and the tail-pipe or ramrod-thimble.

2. A trade name for: the middle one of three grades into which goods are categorized according to quality. Usually in plural. Cf. middling adj.¹ 3.

†a. Of cloth; spec. (U.S.) of cotton. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1701 in W. R. Scott Rec. Sc. Cloth Manufactory New Mills (1905) 255 Without regaird to any coloured cloaths except midlings and fyne cinamons.

1851 De Bow's Rev. Dec. 647 At the commencement of the year under review, middling cotton sold at 12½ @ 12⁵/ ₈ cents; it closes with middlings at 8 cents.

1881 Standard 14 Sept. 4/7 The class of cotton known as ‘middlings’.

b. Of flour and meal.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > flour > [noun] > medium flour

middling1742

1742 C. Carroll Let. 18 Sept. in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1925) 20 166 I send 116 Bushells Wheat more to be ground w^ch I hope you will dispatch... I desire you will send the Bran Shorts & Middleings.

1743 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Dec. viii. 63 Its second, or Middling, or that Meal commonly made Use of by Farmers for spending it in their Families.

1786 G. Washington Diary 13 Sept. (1925) III. 116 My Corn being out, or nearly so, I was obliged to have middlings and ship stuff mixed for bread.

1839 T. Hood Lament Toby in Hood's Own 539 But must I give the classics up, For barley-meal and middlings?

1842 Peter Parley's Ann. 126 One of the nicest, cleanest, fattest pigs that was ever killed,..fattened with nothing but peas and middlings.

1893 A. C. Gunter Miss Dividends 244 Some bread made of middlings.

1904 C. G. D. Roberts Watchers of Trails 85 He decided to make a hurried trip to the settlement for a sack of middlings and other supplies.

1909 Westm. Gaz. 30 Aug. 3/3 No pig-feeder would deny the qualities of middlings.

1935 Fortune Aug. 90/3 A sow properly fed on corn, middlings, and tankage will not be likely to eat her young.

1981 Cook's Mag. Jan. 55/1 The best wheat flours are called ‘patents’, the next grade are ‘middlings’ and the poorest are ‘clears’.

†c. Of fuller's teasels. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > [noun] > putting nap on > teazle > class of

king1766

middling1766

scrub1766

queen1813

1766 Museum Rusticum 6 2 The next smallest which are sound, and are commonly such as grow as side heads on each branch, are thrown for a second sort, and are called middlings.

1797 J. Billingsley Gen. View Agric. Somerset (new ed.) 111 Teasels..are separated into three different parts, called kings, middlings, and scrubs.

1810 W. Marshall Rev. Rep. to Board Agric. from Western Dept. Eng. 457 The central shoot of each plant called the King is cut, the produce of the second and subsequent cuttings are sorted into Queens, Middlings, and Scrubs.

1855 Househ. Words 20 Jan. 539/2 The different sizes [of teasel] are known by the names of kings, queens, middlings, and scrubs.

†d. U.S. Of timber. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1839 J. F. Cooper Home as Found ii One of my own [trees] out of which the sawyers made a thousand feet of clear stuff, to say nothing of middlings.

e. Mining. Of ore, minerals, etc.

ΚΠ

1869 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 97 9 The amount of heavy lubricating oil was largely increased, and the ‘middlings’ correspondingly diminished.

1927 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 41 240 Concentrates, middlings, and tailings, or the first and last, are the products of mill-work.

1965 G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. ix. 135/2 Low-grade magnetic concentrates and a high proportion of middlings.

1990 Minerals Engin. 3 195 Thermal pretreatment enhances liberation of quartz into the tailings classes and decreases the quantity of middlings produced.

3. With plural agreement. With the. People of moderate means; middle-class people. Cf. middling adj.¹ 5.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > the common people > specific classes of common people > [noun] > middle class or bourgeoisie

burgessy1533

menalty1548

middle class1654

middling class1745

middling1751

bourgeoise1769

bourgeoisie1774

petite bourgeoisie1846

petty bourgeoisie1850

middling interest1857

upper middle class1864

middle-middle-class1886

well-heeled1897

small bourgeoisie1970

1751 S. Richardson Clarissa (ed. 3) III. lxii. 321 Were it not for the Poor and the Middling, the world would probably, long ago, have been destroyed by Fire from Heaven.

1782 J. H. St. J. de Crèvecoeur Lett. from Amer. Farmer iii. 72 The rich stay in Europe, it is only the middling and poor that emigrate.

1822 H. Luttrell Lett. to Julia (ed. 3) 71 The poor, the middling, shoot a pitch More and more humble;—ev'n the rich..For lean economy produce If not a reason, an excuse.

1993 R. Hughes Culture of Complaint i. 33 It was nicknamed the trickle-down theory: the rigidly ideological prescription that a free ride for the rich would generate money for the middling and poor.

4. U.S. (chiefly southern and south Midland). = middle n. 12. Frequently in plural.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > mineral material > ore > [noun] > types of washed ore

forstid ore1653

middling1777

1777 Calendar Virginia State Papers (1875) I. 288 Bakin in hams, midlings, shoulders, &c.

1831 J. M. Peck Guide for Emigrants 172 To make bacon of hams, shoulders, and middlings or broadsides.

1834 D. Crockett Narr. Life xi. 79 I got also a large middling of bacon, and killed a fine deer.

1857 ‘Porte Crayon’ Virginia Illustr. i. 31 Fried middling and hot coffee were then served round.

1904 E. Glasgow Deliverance 51 She has had to fry the middling in the kitchen, and mother complains so of the smell.

1927 Amer. Speech 2 360 Middlings, side meat from a hog; used only in the plural. ‘Have you any middlings for sale?’

1972 Foxfire Bk. 207 This [sausage meat] includes trimmings of lean meat from hams, shoulders, middlin' meat, etc.

5. A person or thing that is mediocre or only moderately good. Frequently in among the middlings (regional): of a mediocre class; in only a moderate condition of health. Cf. middling adj.¹ 3b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > [phrase] > in fair health

to set (a person) on (also upon) his (also her, etc.) legs1587

among the middlings1826

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > mediocrity > [phrase]

between hawk and buzzard1637

among the middlings1885

nothing to write home about1914

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > mediocrity > [noun] > mediocre thing or person

ordinary1588

commonplacer1874

mill-run1928

middling1931

1826 G. Daniel Disagreeable Surprise i. iii. 29 ‘I'm sure Mr. Snuffle has got a singing face; do, Mr. Snuffle, strike up a Wolunteer.’—‘My woice is only among the middlings, Mr. Pwesident.’

1872 J. S. Van Dyke Popery ii. viii. 199 ‘Saints’, says the Council of Florence, ‘go to heaven; sinners to hell; and the middling class to purgatory.’ Among the middlings, the priests now cunningly manage, for an obvious reason, to include nearly all.

1877 Sunday Mag. 182 ‘How are you getting on, Dick?’.. ‘Well, only among the middlings, Sir.’

1877 C. O. Wrad Labor Catechism Polit. Econ. 44 It is well enough to truckle to mental middlings, even at the expense of manhood, for the sake of maintaining a well filled purse.

1885 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester (1886) 226 I said to his employer, ‘What sort of a man is your team-man?’ The answer was, ‘Well! he's just about among the middlings;’ so I did not engage him.

1931 R. Campbell Georgiad iii. 62 They're all members of the self-same school, And drilled..to enforce on all The standards of the middling and the small.

1964 R. Church Voy. Home ii. 28 Whenever I asked after his permanently ailing wife, he beamed with benevolence and replied: ‘Oh, amongst the middlings, you know, amongst the middlings.’

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

† middlingn.²

Forms: late Middle English middelyng (in a late copy).

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: middle n., -ing suffix¹.

Etymology: < middle n. (compare middle adj. 2) + -ing suffix¹. Compare middleman n. 6. Compare also middling n.¹

Obsolete. rare.

Girdle-making.

ΚΠ

a1525 Coventry Leet Bk. 184 Joh. Stafford, Joh. Blakemon, sen.,..& Wal. Bonde heldon for the most part as well smethyng, brakyng, Middelyng and cardwiredraweng.

This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online December 2020).

middlingadj.¹

Brit.

/ˈmɪdl̩ɪŋ/,

/ˈmɪdlɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈmɪd(ə)lɪŋ/

Forms: 1500s mydling, 1500s–1800s midling, 1600s middleing, 1600s– middling; English regional 1800s– middlen, 1800s– middlin, 1800s– middlin', 1800s– midlen, 1800s– midlin, 1800s– millin, 1800s– milling, 1900s– midling; U.S. regional 1700s– midlin; Scottish pre-1700 medilyne, pre-1700 medlin, pre-1700 medling, pre-1700 medlyng, pre-1700 middilling, pre-1700 middlinge, pre-1700 midiling, pre-1700 midleine, pre-1700 midlinge, pre-1700 midlyn, pre-1700 mydlin, pre-1700 mydlyn, pre-1700 mydlyng, pre-1700 1700s– middling, pre-1700 1700s– midlen, pre-1700 1900s– midling, pre-1700 1900s– mydling, 1700s 1900s– midlin, 1800s mydlying (pseudo-archaic), 1800s– middlin, 1800s– middlin'.

Origin: Either (i) formed within English, by conversion. Or (ii) formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: middling n.¹; middle v., -ing suffix².

Etymology: Either < middling n.¹, or < middle v. (although this is rare before the 17th cent.) + -ing suffix². Compare later middling adj.²Until the 17th cent. chiefly in Scots use.

a. Of medium or moderate size, strength, quality, etc. (now colloquial, passing into sense 3b); (of size, strength, quality, etc.) medium, moderate.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > medium or moderate size > [adjective]

middlea1425

middlingc1450

middle-sized1596

middle-size1674

middling-sized1723

middling-size1776

mid-sized1883

mid-size1967

c1450 MS Marquis of Bute f. 119, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Midlin(g The ynch sulde be with the thoum off midling mane nother our mikil nor our litil bot be tuyx the twa.

1535 in J. M. Bestall & D. V. Fowkes Chesterfield Wills & Inventories 1521–1603 (1977) 7 A mydlyng pane 1.0d.

1567 in J. H. Ramsay Bamff Charters (1915) 71 Ane greit beif pot..ane midling pot.

1596 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1848) II. 139 Thrie midling schippis, to pass to the Ilis for subdewing of the hieland men.

1598 in C. Innes Black Bk. Taymouth (1855) 330 Off midling plaittis thair, ii do. vi; off greit plaittis thair, xiii.

1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved xxvi. 184 That year may put up three midling Runts upon an Acre, and feed them up.

1694 tr. F. Martens Voy. Spitzbergen 80 in Narbrough's Acct. Several Late Voy. He is as big as a midling Duck.

1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 564 As you gather your Fruit, separate the fairest and biggest from the middling.

1720 D. Defoe Life Capt. Singleton 266 They gave us thirty middling Casks of very good Arrack.

1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison IV. vi. 50 Clementina has a very high fortune—Harriet but a very middling one.

1787 J. Ledyard Jrnl. in Journey through Russia (1966) 179 The Mouth in general is of a middling size, & the Lips thin.

1792 tr. J. P. Brissot de Warville New Trav. U.S.A. 249 Quarries of Marble of a middling fineness.

1831 J. Sinclair Corr. II. 269 Being able to carry a soldier of a middling size in each hand, when his arms were extended.

1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xxx. 264 When colder, say −40°, with a middling breeze.

1898 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Romance of Canvas Town 71 You have a middling cheque, I believe.

1979 J. Rathbone Joseph i. xvii. 174 He was a man of middling height, well-built.

1980 Jrnl. Mod. Hist. 52 326 Professor Hunt has chosen to compare two towns of middling size in the same region.

1988 Which? Oct. 480/3 Many people of middling incomes can't really afford the risks of going to law.

†b. Average. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > condition of being mean or average > [adjective] > average

meana1387

medium1670

middle1699

middling1762

medial1778

average1803

regular1890

1762 D. Hume Hist. Eng. to Henry VII II. 56 This is near the half of the middling price in our time.

2. That occupies an intermediate position or situation between two things or states; forming a mean between two extremes.Quot. 1645 may belong to middling adj.²

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > condition of being mean or average > [adjective]

evenc1300

mean1340

middlingc1485

intermediate1665

half-way1694

middle1699

medium1764

average1770

median1912

middle-range1924

c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 111 Bot than js vertu morale jn the mydlyn way.

a1500 Foly of Fulys & Thewis of Wysmen 133 in R. Girvan Ratis Raving & Other Early Scots Poems (1939) 55 Quharfor tyll hald the mydlyng vay Is best.

1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre ii. ii. 20 in Wks. II A certaine midling thing, betweene a foole and a madman.

1645 J. Milton Tetrachordon 61 As the Physician cures him who hath tak'n down poyson, not by the middling temper of nourishment, but by the other extreme of antidote.

1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. III iii. 103 These Demons the Romans called Semi-Gods and Medioxumi or midling Gods.

1684 tr. T. Bonet Guide Pract. Physician v. 138 A middling Medicine, between a Plaster and a Cataplasm.

1733 G. Cheyne Eng. Malady ii. i. 115 If Care be taken to keep up the Juices in this middling State of Fluidity and Sweetness.

1767 tr. Voltaire Ignorant Philosopher xxxii. 86 The middling state between health and disease.

1878 T. Hardy Indiscretion Life of Heiress in New Q. Mag. July 347 The truly great stand on no middling ledge; they are either famous or unknown.

1937 W. Stevens Coll. Poems (1954) 185 The struggle of the idea of god And the idea of man, the mystic garden and The middling beast.

1986 Consumer Rep. Sept. 557/3 The recommended range for the Spectra film is 55° to 95°F... You'll be happier with the results at middling temperatures.

a. Of a commodity: of the second of three grades, or an intermediate grade, in terms of quality; designating such a grade or quality of goods.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > merchandise > [adjective] > condition or quality of goods

middling1550

pedlaryc1555

shop-rid1620

shopworn1666

loyal1690

braided1721

country-damaged1847

shop-soiled1865

shoddy1882

as new1898

low-end1899

service weight1919

designer1940

high-end1956

loaded1968

market-leading1972

pound shop1989

1550 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 107 The best moutoun for ixs, the midiling moutoun for viiis, and the worst moutoun for viis.

1693 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) III. 86 Middling wheat at 56s. a quarter; middling sort of rye at 36s. a quarter.

1710 T. Fuller Pharmacopœia Extemporanea 1 Midling Ale..fresh, and not upon the fret.

1735 S.-Carolina Gaz. 15 Feb. 3/2 Daniel Bourget, Brewer, having received fresh Malt, gives Notice that all Persons may be supplied by him with strong, middling and small Beer, as usually.

1796 S. L. Mitchill Let. 24 Oct. in Trans. Soc. Promotion of Useful Information (1801) 253 In such soils..Sugar-canes..afford, under such circumstances, sugar and molasses of a quality below middling.

1859 Stationers' Handbk. (ed. 2) 111 Sample of the make termed Blue wove. This is a middling quality, commoner sorts would be lower,..better kinds higher in colour.

1864 R. L. De Coin Hist. & Cult. Cotton & Tobacco 192 Substantial upland middling cottons of good staple.

1887 Daily News 23 Feb. 2/6 Coffee..low middling to middling, 77s to 83s; good middling to fine middling, 83s 6d to 88s.

1914 E. A. Dawe Paper & its Uses v. 29 The middling paper showing slight defects is known as ‘retree’.

1948 Capital-Democrat (Tishomingo, Oklahoma) 17 June 9/4 This basic loan rate for 1948-crop cotton will apply to Middling ⁷/ ₈ inch cotton at average location.

1973 C. A. Wilson Food & Drink in Brit. x. 372 In the reign of Edward III the strongest [ale]..sold for a penny ha'penny a gallon, while the middling and third grades..were a penny and three farthings a gallon respectively.

b. Only moderately good; mediocre, second-rate.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > mediocrity > [adjective]

feeblec1275

demeanc1380

unnoblec1384

coarse1424

colourlessc1425

passable1489

meana1500

indifferent1532

plain1539

so-so1542

mediocre1586

ordinary1590

fameless1611

middling1652

middle-rate1658

ornery1692

so-soish1819

nohow1828

betwixt and between1832

indifferential1836

null1847

undazzling1855

deviceless1884

uncompetitive1885

tug1890

run of the mill1919

serviceable1920

dim1958

spammy1959

comme ci, comme ça1968

vanilla1972

meh2007

1652 J. Tatham Sc. Figgaries iv. i, in Wks. (1878) 161 Children, you talk not like men, you are but middling Christians.

1677 J. Dryden Authors Apol. Heroique Poetry in State Innocence Pref. sig. b^v Longinus..has judiciously preferr'd the sublime Genius that sometimes erres, to the midling or indifferent one which makes few faults but seldome or never rises to any Excellence.

1759 E. Burke Philos. Enq. Sublime & Beautiful (ed. 2) Introd. 21 The middling performance of a vulgar artist.

1804 J. W. Croker Familiar Epist. (ed. 2) 34 This person from being a brazier, metamorphosed himself into a very middling painter, and finally became an indifferent actor.

1833 T. Hood Epping Hunt xxxii All sorts of vehicles and vans, Bad, middling, and the smart.

1895 Speaker 14 Sept. 288/1 In the matter of trade disputes, however, he was only a middling success.

1930 W. K. Hancock Australia xiii. 272 De Tocqueville perceived that the Americans were everywhere content with a ‘middling standard’—in manners, morals, knowledge, and the arts.

1941 D. Thomas Let. 2 Apr. (1985) 479 The weather here is quite middling and sometimes we have rain and sometimes we don't.

1999 J. M. Coetzee Disgrace (2000) viii. 69 She was in one of my classes. Only middling as a student, but very attractive.

c. colloquial and regional. In reasonable (but not perfect) health; not in the best of health. Chiefly used predicatively.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > [adverb] > in fair health

meeterly1685

middling1748

middlingly1819

1748 S. Richardson Clarissa VII. lix. 215 And now he is but very middling; sits grinning like a man in straw; curses and swears, and is confounded gloomy.

1757 P. Bacon Tryal of Time-killers iii. i. 38, in Humorous Ethics Indeed it is but very middling with my poor young mistress.

1803 S. T. Coleridge Let. 15 Feb. (1956) II. 924 It..left me..freed from rheumatic pains & feverishness. Since then I have been pretty middling, as the phrase goes.

1810 W. B. Rhodes Bombastes Furioso i. 7 We are but middling—that is, but so so.

1877 Princess Alice in Mem. 6 Nov. (1884) 367 I am but very middling.

1920 M. Gyte Diary 21 Mar. (1999) 255 Anthony is not well at all and Emily and I are only just middling.

1985 K. Howarth Sounds Gradely Middling,..‘How are you?’ ‘Middlin' thanks’..only moderately well.

1990 A. Cavender Folk Med. Lex. S. Central Appalachia 27 Midlin, not feeling well, but not feeling sick.

4. Between young and old; middle-aged. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > person > middle-aged person > [adjective]

middle-aged1536

mid-aged1556

middling1610

mid-age1845

medieval1848

mid-life1858

middle-ageing1882

1610 J. Boys Expos. Domin. Epist. in Wks. (1622) 228 Young Lawyers, old Physitians, and midling Divines are best; an old Preacher cannot teach so painfully, and the young not so profitably, but the midling may doe both [etc.].

1847 A. Brontë Agnes Grey viii. 133 ‘Is he handsome?’ ‘No,—only decent.’ ‘Young?’ ‘No—only middling.’

1917 W. Owen Let. 31 Dec. (1967) 521 Some [friends] are very young, and some are already old, but none are middling.

5. Designating or relating to persons of moderate means or the middle class. Now chiefly in middling class n., middling interest n. at Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > the common people > specific classes of common people > [adjective] > middle-class or bourgeois

moyen1481

middling1631

bourgeois1761

small bourgeois1832

lower middle class1835

middle class1836

bourgeoisistic1848

petty bourgeois1864

upper middle class1872

petit bourgeois1887

lace curtain1928

haut bourgeois1940

bourgie1968

1631 J. Mabbe tr. F. de Rojas Spanish Bawd iv. 50 You shall scarce finde one rich man amongst a thousand, but will ingeniously confesse, that it had beene better for him to haue bin in a middling estate, or in good honest pouerty.

1692 R. L'Estrange Fables ccxxx. 201 There was a Middling sort of a Man that was left well enough to pass by his Father, but could never think he had enough.

1718 Free-thinker No. 19. 1 The Midling People of England are generally Good-natured and Stout-hearted.

1773 R. Graves Spiritual Quixote III. xii. xiii. 299 An empassioned tone of voice, a suitable gesture, and a pathetic style, have more effect upon the middling and lower ranks of mankind..than the most rational discourse.

1791 H. B. Dudley Woodman i. iv. 13 Pray, Gentlemen—or rather middling kind of men—what may be your business here so early this morning?

a1822 in Amer. Speech (1956) 31 270 Powerful. This word is much used by the middling and lower class of people in the interior of So: Carolina.

1847 G. Grote Hist. Greece IV. ii. xxxvii. 560 He was a citizen of middling station.

1897 F. W. Maitland Domesday Bk. & Beyond 65 Now if these things are being done in the middling strata of society [etc.].

†6. Occupying a middle or central position. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > central condition or position > [adjective] > situated in the centre or middle

mideOE

middleeOE

mean1340

midwarda1400

moyen1481

centrica1593

midway1608

centricala1631

umbilical1742

middling1747

median1771

focal1825

1747 Gentleman's Mag. July 330/2 In many of the midling counties,..there is scarce any difference between the whole number of members at that time and this.

Compounds

middling class n. (singular and plural) = middle class n.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > the common people > specific classes of common people > [noun] > middle class or bourgeoisie

burgessy1533

menalty1548

middle class1654

middling class1745

middling1751

bourgeoise1769

bourgeoisie1774

petite bourgeoisie1846

petty bourgeoisie1850

middling interest1857

upper middle class1864

middle-middle-class1886

well-heeled1897

small bourgeoisie1970

1745 E. Haywood Female Spectator I. 148 They wanted..fresh Opportunities of renewing those chimerical Expectations, by which already three Parts in four of the middling Class had been undone.

1789 T. Anburey Trav. Interior Parts Amer. II. 393 This diversion is a great favorite of the middling and lower classes.

1822 R. Heber in A. Heber Life R. Heber (1830) II. xx. 86 Among the lower and middling classes, a churchman or dissenter never strays into each other's precincts.

1884 Catholic World July 452 The council came at last to include many of no position or means that distinguished them from the middling classes.

1991 B. Wyatt-Brown in W. J. Cash Mind of South Introd. p. xii His family belonged to the middling class of nonslaveholders who were often called ‘the yeomanry’.

1991 Jrnl. Design Hist. 4 235/2 The sorts of text described above were definitely aimed at the middling classes.

middling interest n. now historical = middle class n.

ΚΠ

1857 E. M. Stone Life of Howland vii. 137 He resolved on attempting to arrest this hostility by creating..a correct public sentiment, and by overlaying it with what is..denominated a ‘middling interest’ influence.

1873 S. A. Drake Old Landmarks & Hist. Personages Boston x. 318 The Haymarket was built by his friends. It was designed to accommodate the middling interest, but the town could not support two theatres.

1987 Jrnl. Amer. Hist. 74 818 Both were challenged by a rising ‘middling interest’ beneath which rumbled a mass of mechanics and artisans.

middling-size adj. = middle-sized adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > medium or moderate size > [adjective]

middlea1425

middlingc1450

middle-sized1596

middle-size1674

middling-sized1723

middling-size1776

mid-sized1883

mid-size1967

1776 Trial Maha Rajah Nundocomar for Forgery 42/1 Q. What sort of a man was Mahomed Commaul? A. A middling size man.

1795 W. Felton Treat. Carriages II. 94 The appearance of both ought to be conformable to each other, therefore a middling size phaeton to the middling or galloway sized horses suits best.

1832 T. Bridgeman Young Gardener's Assistant (ed. 3) 263 Norfolk Beaufin. Fruit middling size, flattish.

2002 Ottawa Citizen (Nexis) 9 Oct. c7 In other words, McKeown expects to trade on the cachet of being a middling-size American fish returning to a relatively small Canadian pond.

middling-sized adj. = middle-sized adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > medium or moderate size > [adjective]

middlea1425

middlingc1450

middle-sized1596

middle-size1674

middling-sized1723

middling-size1776

mid-sized1883

mid-size1967

1723 G. Vertue Note-bks. (1934) III. 20 Especially midling sized figures.

a1756 E. Haywood New Present (1771) 62 Get four or five middling-sized eels.

1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge iv. 260 A middling-sized dish of beef and ham.

1906 W. D. Howells Let. 24 May in Sel. Lett. (1983) V. 181 Like all the middling-sized towns you ever lived in.

1965 P. Arrowsmith Jericho iii. 14 Camping out..in one middling-sized caravan.

† middling teeth n. Obsolete the second (middle) incisor teeth of a horse.

ΚΠ

1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Middling-Teeth,..are the four teeth of a horse that come out at three years and a half, in the room of other four foal teeth;..from which situation they derive the title of Middling.

1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. at Corner-teeth The four teeth [in a horse] between the middling teeth and the tushes.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† middlingadj.²

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: middle v., -ing suffix².

Etymology: < middle v. + -ing suffix².

Obsolete. rare.

Acting as a go-between or intermediary.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [adjective] > acting as intermediate agent > specifically of person

mediate1571–2

middling1631

intermediating1694

mesne1812

intermediate1855

1631 B. Jonson Divell is Asse i. vi. 219 in Wks. II What doe you say vnto a middling Gossip? To bring you aye together, at her lodging?

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2021).

middlingadv.

Brit.

/ˈmɪdl̩ɪŋ/,

/ˈmɪdlɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈmɪd(ə)lɪŋ/

Forms: 1700s– middling, 1800s– middlin (regional), 1800s– middlin' (regional), 1800s– midling (regional).

Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: middling adj.¹

Etymology: < middling adj.¹Compare Old English midlunga to a moderate or middling degree.

1. Chiefly colloquial. Modifying an adjective or adverb: moderately, fairly.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > moderateness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb] > fairly

reasonably1389

reasonablyc1447

seemlyc1460

reasonable1485

gaily1532

indifferently?c1550

pretty well1576

indifferent1583

tolerably1602

tolerable1673

middling1719

geylies1754

middlingly1755

fairly1805

fairish1818

wellish1830

serviceably1896

1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 123 He form'd out of one of the Iron Crows, a middling good Anvil.

1779 E. Beatty in J. L. Hardenbergh's Jrnl. (1879) 63 The road middling hilly.

1848 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 1st Ser. ii. 27 Mister Sawin, sir, you're middlin' well now, be ye?

1881 H. James Portrait of Lady I. v. 55 She was thin, and light, and middling tall.

1905 J. M. Synge Riders to Sea 41 Cathleen. Is the sea bad..? Nora. Middling bad, God help us.

1951 Scots Mag. Dec. 244 Angus would be middling young at the time..about forty maybe.

1976 D. Francis In Frame vii. 111 Just the middling wealthy with Georgian silver and lesser Gauguins and Chippendale chairs.

1994 C. McWilliam Debatable Land (1995) vi. 145 All the food was middling warm.

2. colloquial and regional. Fairly well; moderately successfully. Also pretty middling.

ΚΠ

1805 Portfolio 13 Apr. 110/2 But, just as I'd the knack on't got, and did it pretty middling, I lost my elbow by a shot, And, damme, spoilt my fiddling.

1823 I. Pocock Nigel Epilogue 98 ‘You've got an old husband... How do you like him?’.. ‘Pretty middling.’

1853 C. Dickens Bleak House xxi. 208 ‘How de do?..’ ‘Middling,’ replies Mr. George.

1894 H. Caine Manxman v. iii. 287 We'll do middling if we get a market.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

n.¹OE

n.²a1525

adj.¹c1450

adj.²1631

adv.1719

单词	middling
释义	middlingn.¹ Brit. /ˈmɪdl̩ɪŋ/, /ˈmɪdlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈmɪd(ə)lɪŋ/ Forms: Old English midlung, early Middle English mydeling, Middle English myddelyng, 1600s (1700s U.S.) midling, 1700s– middling, 1800s– middleing (English regional), 1800s– middlen (English regional), 1800s– middlin (English regional), 1800s– middlin' (English regional); U.S. regional (chiefly in sense 4) 1700s middleing, 1800s midlin, 1800s– middlin, 1900s– middlin'; also Scottish pre-1700 midlyng, pre-1700 mydlin, pre-1700 mydlyn, pre-1700 1700s midling. Origin: Probably formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: middle n., -ing suffix¹; middle v., -ing suffix¹, middling adj.¹ Etymology: Probably either < middle n. + -ing suffix¹, or < middle v. (although this is not attested in Old English: see discussion at that entry) + -ing suffix¹, subsequently reinforced by association with middling adj.¹; in some later senses (compare senses 3 and 5) probably directly < middling adj.¹ Compare Middle Dutch middelinc mediator, Middle Low German middelinc the middle finger. Compare middling n.²In Older Scots the word is usually found in the plural. 1. a. = middle n. in various senses; an intermediate thing; a middle or intermediate part or stage; a mean, a middle term. Also: a person of middle age. Now rare.In quot. a1225 apparently the name of a local stream. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > condition of being mean or average > [noun] > mean middlingOE middlelOE meanc1450 neutralityc1475 moyen1484 temper?1523 mediety1573 medium1593 temperature1598 temperament1604 intermedial1605 median1635 intermediate1650 average1737 middle term1754 mesne1821 intermediacy1836 intermediary1865 OE Lambeth Psalter: Canticles ii. 236 In dimidio dierum meorum : on midlunge daga minra. OE Lambeth Psalter ciii. 10 Inter medium montium pertransibunt aquae : betweox midlunge munta þurhfarað wæteru. a1225 (?OE) Bounds (Sawyer 682) in S. E. Kelly Charters of Abingdon Abbey, Pt. 2 (2001) 349 Þanan on Mær dic, &lang dic on Mydeling. ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 0 Ðat..he..defende me yn giffyng a happy bygynnyng & yn gouernyng more happy myddelyng..þat yt be made profitable in ledyng þe best endyng. c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Gouernaunce of Princis (1993) xxx. 105 Of metis thare is sum yat is sutile, and othir yat is rude, and othir yat ar mydlinis. 1609 A. Gardyne Garden Grave & Godlie Flowres sig. G Some yong, some midlings,..Some in the verie Euening of their age. 1615 J. Boys Expos. Fest. Epist. & Gospels in Wks. (1630) 573 John Baptist, the last of the Prophets, and first of Apostles, a midling as it were betweene both. 1620 T. Granger Syntagma Logicum 89 But the midlings are disparates both to the extremes, and among themselues. 1987 A. R. Ammons Sumerian Vistas 6 We went for a raw walk in the high middling of the afternoon. †b. In plural. Pins of medium size. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [noun] > sewing > equipment for > pin pina1275 middlings1543 minikin1574 corking-pin?1690 lill1882 1543 MS Rec. Aberdeen XVIII, in Jamieson's Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (1880) III. 275/1 xviiij paperis of prenis, the price xxvij sh., ane bout of midlyngis the price vj. sh., & tua hankis of wyir the price xxiiij sh. 1824 M. R. Mitford Our Village I. 227 Pincushions..capable..of containing..a whole paper of short-whites and another of middlings. †c. The central section of a gunstock (see quot. 1875). Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ 1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1436/1 Middling, that portion of a gun-stock between the grasp and the tail-pipe or ramrod-thimble. 2. A trade name for: the middle one of three grades into which goods are categorized according to quality. Usually in plural. Cf. middling adj.¹ 3. †a. Of cloth; spec. (U.S.) of cotton. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1701 in W. R. Scott Rec. Sc. Cloth Manufactory New Mills (1905) 255 Without regaird to any coloured cloaths except midlings and fyne cinamons. 1851 De Bow's Rev. Dec. 647 At the commencement of the year under review, middling cotton sold at 12½ @ 12⁵/ ₈ cents; it closes with middlings at 8 cents. 1881 Standard 14 Sept. 4/7 The class of cotton known as ‘middlings’. b. Of flour and meal. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > flour > [noun] > medium flour middling1742 1742 C. Carroll Let. 18 Sept. in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1925) 20 166 I send 116 Bushells Wheat more to be ground w^ch I hope you will dispatch... I desire you will send the Bran Shorts & Middleings. 1743 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Dec. viii. 63 Its second, or Middling, or that Meal commonly made Use of by Farmers for spending it in their Families. 1786 G. Washington Diary 13 Sept. (1925) III. 116 My Corn being out, or nearly so, I was obliged to have middlings and ship stuff mixed for bread. 1839 T. Hood Lament Toby in Hood's Own 539 But must I give the classics up, For barley-meal and middlings? 1842 Peter Parley's Ann. 126 One of the nicest, cleanest, fattest pigs that was ever killed,..fattened with nothing but peas and middlings. 1893 A. C. Gunter Miss Dividends 244 Some bread made of middlings. 1904 C. G. D. Roberts Watchers of Trails 85 He decided to make a hurried trip to the settlement for a sack of middlings and other supplies. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 30 Aug. 3/3 No pig-feeder would deny the qualities of middlings. 1935 Fortune Aug. 90/3 A sow properly fed on corn, middlings, and tankage will not be likely to eat her young. 1981 Cook's Mag. Jan. 55/1 The best wheat flours are called ‘patents’, the next grade are ‘middlings’ and the poorest are ‘clears’. †c. Of fuller's teasels. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > [noun] > putting nap on > teazle > class of king1766 middling1766 scrub1766 queen1813 1766 Museum Rusticum 6 2 The next smallest which are sound, and are commonly such as grow as side heads on each branch, are thrown for a second sort, and are called middlings. 1797 J. Billingsley Gen. View Agric. Somerset (new ed.) 111 Teasels..are separated into three different parts, called kings, middlings, and scrubs. 1810 W. Marshall Rev. Rep. to Board Agric. from Western Dept. Eng. 457 The central shoot of each plant called the King is cut, the produce of the second and subsequent cuttings are sorted into Queens, Middlings, and Scrubs. 1855 Househ. Words 20 Jan. 539/2 The different sizes [of teasel] are known by the names of kings, queens, middlings, and scrubs. †d. U.S. Of timber. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1839 J. F. Cooper Home as Found ii One of my own [trees] out of which the sawyers made a thousand feet of clear stuff, to say nothing of middlings. e. Mining. Of ore, minerals, etc. ΚΠ 1869 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 97 9 The amount of heavy lubricating oil was largely increased, and the ‘middlings’ correspondingly diminished. 1927 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 41 240 Concentrates, middlings, and tailings, or the first and last, are the products of mill-work. 1965 G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. ix. 135/2 Low-grade magnetic concentrates and a high proportion of middlings. 1990 Minerals Engin. 3 195 Thermal pretreatment enhances liberation of quartz into the tailings classes and decreases the quantity of middlings produced. 3. With plural agreement. With the. People of moderate means; middle-class people. Cf. middling adj.¹ 5. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > the common people > specific classes of common people > [noun] > middle class or bourgeoisie burgessy1533 menalty1548 middle class1654 middling class1745 middling1751 bourgeoise1769 bourgeoisie1774 petite bourgeoisie1846 petty bourgeoisie1850 middling interest1857 upper middle class1864 middle-middle-class1886 well-heeled1897 small bourgeoisie1970 1751 S. Richardson Clarissa (ed. 3) III. lxii. 321 Were it not for the Poor and the Middling, the world would probably, long ago, have been destroyed by Fire from Heaven. 1782 J. H. St. J. de Crèvecoeur Lett. from Amer. Farmer iii. 72 The rich stay in Europe, it is only the middling and poor that emigrate. 1822 H. Luttrell Lett. to Julia (ed. 3) 71 The poor, the middling, shoot a pitch More and more humble;—ev'n the rich..For lean economy produce If not a reason, an excuse. 1993 R. Hughes Culture of Complaint i. 33 It was nicknamed the trickle-down theory: the rigidly ideological prescription that a free ride for the rich would generate money for the middling and poor. 4. U.S. (chiefly southern and south Midland). = middle n. 12. Frequently in plural. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > mineral material > ore > [noun] > types of washed ore forstid ore1653 middling1777 1777 Calendar Virginia State Papers (1875) I. 288 Bakin in hams, midlings, shoulders, &c. 1831 J. M. Peck Guide for Emigrants 172 To make bacon of hams, shoulders, and middlings or broadsides. 1834 D. Crockett Narr. Life xi. 79 I got also a large middling of bacon, and killed a fine deer. 1857 ‘Porte Crayon’ Virginia Illustr. i. 31 Fried middling and hot coffee were then served round. 1904 E. Glasgow Deliverance 51 She has had to fry the middling in the kitchen, and mother complains so of the smell. 1927 Amer. Speech 2 360 Middlings, side meat from a hog; used only in the plural. ‘Have you any middlings for sale?’ 1972 Foxfire Bk. 207 This [sausage meat] includes trimmings of lean meat from hams, shoulders, middlin' meat, etc. 5. A person or thing that is mediocre or only moderately good. Frequently in among the middlings (regional): of a mediocre class; in only a moderate condition of health. Cf. middling adj.¹ 3b. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > [phrase] > in fair health to set (a person) on (also upon) his (also her, etc.) legs1587 among the middlings1826 the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > mediocrity > [phrase] between hawk and buzzard1637 among the middlings1885 nothing to write home about1914 the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > mediocrity > [noun] > mediocre thing or person ordinary1588 commonplacer1874 mill-run1928 middling1931 1826 G. Daniel Disagreeable Surprise i. iii. 29 ‘I'm sure Mr. Snuffle has got a singing face; do, Mr. Snuffle, strike up a Wolunteer.’—‘My woice is only among the middlings, Mr. Pwesident.’ 1872 J. S. Van Dyke Popery ii. viii. 199 ‘Saints’, says the Council of Florence, ‘go to heaven; sinners to hell; and the middling class to purgatory.’ Among the middlings, the priests now cunningly manage, for an obvious reason, to include nearly all. 1877 Sunday Mag. 182 ‘How are you getting on, Dick?’.. ‘Well, only among the middlings, Sir.’ 1877 C. O. Wrad Labor Catechism Polit. Econ. 44 It is well enough to truckle to mental middlings, even at the expense of manhood, for the sake of maintaining a well filled purse. 1885 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester (1886) 226 I said to his employer, ‘What sort of a man is your team-man?’ The answer was, ‘Well! he's just about among the middlings;’ so I did not engage him. 1931 R. Campbell Georgiad iii. 62 They're all members of the self-same school, And drilled..to enforce on all The standards of the middling and the small. 1964 R. Church Voy. Home ii. 28 Whenever I asked after his permanently ailing wife, he beamed with benevolence and replied: ‘Oh, amongst the middlings, you know, amongst the middlings.’ This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022). † middlingn.² Forms: late Middle English middelyng (in a late copy). Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: middle n., -ing suffix¹. Etymology: < middle n. (compare middle adj. 2) + -ing suffix¹. Compare middleman n. 6. Compare also middling n.¹ Obsolete. rare. Girdle-making. ΚΠ a1525 Coventry Leet Bk. 184 Joh. Stafford, Joh. Blakemon, sen.,..& Wal. Bonde heldon for the most part as well smethyng, brakyng, Middelyng and cardwiredraweng. This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online December 2020). middlingadj.¹ Brit. /ˈmɪdl̩ɪŋ/, /ˈmɪdlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈmɪd(ə)lɪŋ/ Forms: 1500s mydling, 1500s–1800s midling, 1600s middleing, 1600s– middling; English regional 1800s– middlen, 1800s– middlin, 1800s– middlin', 1800s– midlen, 1800s– midlin, 1800s– millin, 1800s– milling, 1900s– midling; U.S. regional 1700s– midlin; Scottish pre-1700 medilyne, pre-1700 medlin, pre-1700 medling, pre-1700 medlyng, pre-1700 middilling, pre-1700 middlinge, pre-1700 midiling, pre-1700 midleine, pre-1700 midlinge, pre-1700 midlyn, pre-1700 mydlin, pre-1700 mydlyn, pre-1700 mydlyng, pre-1700 1700s– middling, pre-1700 1700s– midlen, pre-1700 1900s– midling, pre-1700 1900s– mydling, 1700s 1900s– midlin, 1800s mydlying (pseudo-archaic), 1800s– middlin, 1800s– middlin'. Origin: Either (i) formed within English, by conversion. Or (ii) formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: middling n.¹; middle v., -ing suffix². Etymology: Either < middling n.¹, or < middle v. (although this is rare before the 17th cent.) + -ing suffix². Compare later middling adj.²Until the 17th cent. chiefly in Scots use. 1. a. Of medium or moderate size, strength, quality, etc. (now colloquial, passing into sense 3b); (of size, strength, quality, etc.) medium, moderate. ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > medium or moderate size > [adjective] middlea1425 middlingc1450 middle-sized1596 middle-size1674 middling-sized1723 middling-size1776 mid-sized1883 mid-size1967 c1450 MS Marquis of Bute f. 119, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Midlin(g The ynch sulde be with the thoum off midling mane nother our mikil nor our litil bot be tuyx the twa. 1535 in J. M. Bestall & D. V. Fowkes Chesterfield Wills & Inventories 1521–1603 (1977) 7 A mydlyng pane 1.0d. 1567 in J. H. Ramsay Bamff Charters (1915) 71 Ane greit beif pot..ane midling pot. 1596 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1848) II. 139 Thrie midling schippis, to pass to the Ilis for subdewing of the hieland men. 1598 in C. Innes Black Bk. Taymouth (1855) 330 Off midling plaittis thair, ii do. vi; off greit plaittis thair, xiii. 1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved xxvi. 184 That year may put up three midling Runts upon an Acre, and feed them up. 1694 tr. F. Martens Voy. Spitzbergen 80 in Narbrough's Acct. Several Late Voy. He is as big as a midling Duck. 1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 564 As you gather your Fruit, separate the fairest and biggest from the middling. 1720 D. Defoe Life Capt. Singleton 266 They gave us thirty middling Casks of very good Arrack. 1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison IV. vi. 50 Clementina has a very high fortune—Harriet but a very middling one. 1787 J. Ledyard Jrnl. in Journey through Russia (1966) 179 The Mouth in general is of a middling size, & the Lips thin. 1792 tr. J. P. Brissot de Warville New Trav. U.S.A. 249 Quarries of Marble of a middling fineness. 1831 J. Sinclair Corr. II. 269 Being able to carry a soldier of a middling size in each hand, when his arms were extended. 1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xxx. 264 When colder, say −40°, with a middling breeze. 1898 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Romance of Canvas Town 71 You have a middling cheque, I believe. 1979 J. Rathbone Joseph i. xvii. 174 He was a man of middling height, well-built. 1980 Jrnl. Mod. Hist. 52 326 Professor Hunt has chosen to compare two towns of middling size in the same region. 1988 Which? Oct. 480/3 Many people of middling incomes can't really afford the risks of going to law. †b. Average. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > condition of being mean or average > [adjective] > average meana1387 medium1670 middle1699 middling1762 medial1778 average1803 regular1890 1762 D. Hume Hist. Eng. to Henry VII II. 56 This is near the half of the middling price in our time. 2. That occupies an intermediate position or situation between two things or states; forming a mean between two extremes.Quot. 1645 may belong to middling adj.² ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > condition of being mean or average > [adjective] evenc1300 mean1340 middlingc1485 intermediate1665 half-way1694 middle1699 medium1764 average1770 median1912 middle-range1924 c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 111 Bot than js vertu morale jn the mydlyn way. a1500 Foly of Fulys & Thewis of Wysmen 133 in R. Girvan Ratis Raving & Other Early Scots Poems (1939) 55 Quharfor tyll hald the mydlyng vay Is best. 1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre ii. ii. 20 in Wks. II A certaine midling thing, betweene a foole and a madman. 1645 J. Milton Tetrachordon 61 As the Physician cures him who hath tak'n down poyson, not by the middling temper of nourishment, but by the other extreme of antidote. 1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. III iii. 103 These Demons the Romans called Semi-Gods and Medioxumi or midling Gods. 1684 tr. T. Bonet Guide Pract. Physician v. 138 A middling Medicine, between a Plaster and a Cataplasm. 1733 G. Cheyne Eng. Malady ii. i. 115 If Care be taken to keep up the Juices in this middling State of Fluidity and Sweetness. 1767 tr. Voltaire Ignorant Philosopher xxxii. 86 The middling state between health and disease. 1878 T. Hardy Indiscretion Life of Heiress in New Q. Mag. July 347 The truly great stand on no middling ledge; they are either famous or unknown. 1937 W. Stevens Coll. Poems (1954) 185 The struggle of the idea of god And the idea of man, the mystic garden and The middling beast. 1986 Consumer Rep. Sept. 557/3 The recommended range for the Spectra film is 55° to 95°F... You'll be happier with the results at middling temperatures. 3. a. Of a commodity: of the second of three grades, or an intermediate grade, in terms of quality; designating such a grade or quality of goods. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > merchandise > [adjective] > condition or quality of goods middling1550 pedlaryc1555 shop-rid1620 shopworn1666 loyal1690 braided1721 country-damaged1847 shop-soiled1865 shoddy1882 as new1898 low-end1899 service weight1919 designer1940 high-end1956 loaded1968 market-leading1972 pound shop1989 1550 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 107 The best moutoun for ixs, the midiling moutoun for viiis, and the worst moutoun for viis. 1693 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) III. 86 Middling wheat at 56s. a quarter; middling sort of rye at 36s. a quarter. 1710 T. Fuller Pharmacopœia Extemporanea 1 Midling Ale..fresh, and not upon the fret. 1735 S.-Carolina Gaz. 15 Feb. 3/2 Daniel Bourget, Brewer, having received fresh Malt, gives Notice that all Persons may be supplied by him with strong, middling and small Beer, as usually. 1796 S. L. Mitchill Let. 24 Oct. in Trans. Soc. Promotion of Useful Information (1801) 253 In such soils..Sugar-canes..afford, under such circumstances, sugar and molasses of a quality below middling. 1859 Stationers' Handbk. (ed. 2) 111 Sample of the make termed Blue wove. This is a middling quality, commoner sorts would be lower,..better kinds higher in colour. 1864 R. L. De Coin Hist. & Cult. Cotton & Tobacco 192 Substantial upland middling cottons of good staple. 1887 Daily News 23 Feb. 2/6 Coffee..low middling to middling, 77s to 83s; good middling to fine middling, 83s 6d to 88s. 1914 E. A. Dawe Paper & its Uses v. 29 The middling paper showing slight defects is known as ‘retree’. 1948 Capital-Democrat (Tishomingo, Oklahoma) 17 June 9/4 This basic loan rate for 1948-crop cotton will apply to Middling ⁷/ ₈ inch cotton at average location. 1973 C. A. Wilson Food & Drink in Brit. x. 372 In the reign of Edward III the strongest [ale]..sold for a penny ha'penny a gallon, while the middling and third grades..were a penny and three farthings a gallon respectively. b. Only moderately good; mediocre, second-rate. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > mediocrity > [adjective] feeblec1275 demeanc1380 unnoblec1384 coarse1424 colourlessc1425 passable1489 meana1500 indifferent1532 plain1539 so-so1542 mediocre1586 ordinary1590 fameless1611 middling1652 middle-rate1658 ornery1692 so-soish1819 nohow1828 betwixt and between1832 indifferential1836 null1847 undazzling1855 deviceless1884 uncompetitive1885 tug1890 run of the mill1919 serviceable1920 dim1958 spammy1959 comme ci, comme ça1968 vanilla1972 meh2007 1652 J. Tatham Sc. Figgaries iv. i, in Wks. (1878) 161 Children, you talk not like men, you are but middling Christians. 1677 J. Dryden Authors Apol. Heroique Poetry in State Innocence Pref. sig. b^v Longinus..has judiciously preferr'd the sublime Genius that sometimes erres, to the midling or indifferent one which makes few faults but seldome or never rises to any Excellence. 1759 E. Burke Philos. Enq. Sublime & Beautiful (ed. 2) Introd. 21 The middling performance of a vulgar artist. 1804 J. W. Croker Familiar Epist. (ed. 2) 34 This person from being a brazier, metamorphosed himself into a very middling painter, and finally became an indifferent actor. 1833 T. Hood Epping Hunt xxxii All sorts of vehicles and vans, Bad, middling, and the smart. 1895 Speaker 14 Sept. 288/1 In the matter of trade disputes, however, he was only a middling success. 1930 W. K. Hancock Australia xiii. 272 De Tocqueville perceived that the Americans were everywhere content with a ‘middling standard’—in manners, morals, knowledge, and the arts. 1941 D. Thomas Let. 2 Apr. (1985) 479 The weather here is quite middling and sometimes we have rain and sometimes we don't. 1999 J. M. Coetzee Disgrace (2000) viii. 69 She was in one of my classes. Only middling as a student, but very attractive. c. colloquial and regional. In reasonable (but not perfect) health; not in the best of health. Chiefly used predicatively. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > [adverb] > in fair health meeterly1685 middling1748 middlingly1819 1748 S. Richardson Clarissa VII. lix. 215 And now he is but very middling; sits grinning like a man in straw; curses and swears, and is confounded gloomy. 1757 P. Bacon Tryal of Time-killers iii. i. 38, in Humorous Ethics Indeed it is but very middling with my poor young mistress. 1803 S. T. Coleridge Let. 15 Feb. (1956) II. 924 It..left me..freed from rheumatic pains & feverishness. Since then I have been pretty middling, as the phrase goes. 1810 W. B. Rhodes Bombastes Furioso i. 7 We are but middling—that is, but so so. 1877 Princess Alice in Mem. 6 Nov. (1884) 367 I am but very middling. 1920 M. Gyte Diary 21 Mar. (1999) 255 Anthony is not well at all and Emily and I are only just middling. 1985 K. Howarth Sounds Gradely Middling,..‘How are you?’ ‘Middlin' thanks’..only moderately well. 1990 A. Cavender Folk Med. Lex. S. Central Appalachia 27 Midlin, not feeling well, but not feeling sick. 4. Between young and old; middle-aged. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > middle-aged person > [adjective] middle-aged1536 mid-aged1556 middling1610 mid-age1845 medieval1848 mid-life1858 middle-ageing1882 1610 J. Boys Expos. Domin. Epist. in Wks. (1622) 228 Young Lawyers, old Physitians, and midling Divines are best; an old Preacher cannot teach so painfully, and the young not so profitably, but the midling may doe both [etc.]. 1847 A. Brontë Agnes Grey viii. 133 ‘Is he handsome?’ ‘No,—only decent.’ ‘Young?’ ‘No—only middling.’ 1917 W. Owen Let. 31 Dec. (1967) 521 Some [friends] are very young, and some are already old, but none are middling. 5. Designating or relating to persons of moderate means or the middle class. Now chiefly in middling class n., middling interest n. at Compounds. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > the common people > specific classes of common people > [adjective] > middle-class or bourgeois moyen1481 middling1631 bourgeois1761 small bourgeois1832 lower middle class1835 middle class1836 bourgeoisistic1848 petty bourgeois1864 upper middle class1872 petit bourgeois1887 lace curtain1928 haut bourgeois1940 bourgie1968 1631 J. Mabbe tr. F. de Rojas Spanish Bawd iv. 50 You shall scarce finde one rich man amongst a thousand, but will ingeniously confesse, that it had beene better for him to haue bin in a middling estate, or in good honest pouerty. 1692 R. L'Estrange Fables ccxxx. 201 There was a Middling sort of a Man that was left well enough to pass by his Father, but could never think he had enough. 1718 Free-thinker No. 19. 1 The Midling People of England are generally Good-natured and Stout-hearted. 1773 R. Graves Spiritual Quixote III. xii. xiii. 299 An empassioned tone of voice, a suitable gesture, and a pathetic style, have more effect upon the middling and lower ranks of mankind..than the most rational discourse. 1791 H. B. Dudley Woodman i. iv. 13 Pray, Gentlemen—or rather middling kind of men—what may be your business here so early this morning? a1822 in Amer. Speech (1956) 31 270 Powerful. This word is much used by the middling and lower class of people in the interior of So: Carolina. 1847 G. Grote Hist. Greece IV. ii. xxxvii. 560 He was a citizen of middling station. 1897 F. W. Maitland Domesday Bk. & Beyond 65 Now if these things are being done in the middling strata of society [etc.]. †6. Occupying a middle or central position. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > central condition or position > [adjective] > situated in the centre or middle mideOE middleeOE mean1340 midwarda1400 moyen1481 centrica1593 midway1608 centricala1631 umbilical1742 middling1747 median1771 focal1825 1747 Gentleman's Mag. July 330/2 In many of the midling counties,..there is scarce any difference between the whole number of members at that time and this. Compounds middling class n. (singular and plural) = middle class n. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > the common people > specific classes of common people > [noun] > middle class or bourgeoisie burgessy1533 menalty1548 middle class1654 middling class1745 middling1751 bourgeoise1769 bourgeoisie1774 petite bourgeoisie1846 petty bourgeoisie1850 middling interest1857 upper middle class1864 middle-middle-class1886 well-heeled1897 small bourgeoisie1970 1745 E. Haywood Female Spectator I. 148 They wanted..fresh Opportunities of renewing those chimerical Expectations, by which already three Parts in four of the middling Class had been undone. 1789 T. Anburey Trav. Interior Parts Amer. II. 393 This diversion is a great favorite of the middling and lower classes. 1822 R. Heber in A. Heber Life R. Heber (1830) II. xx. 86 Among the lower and middling classes, a churchman or dissenter never strays into each other's precincts. 1884 Catholic World July 452 The council came at last to include many of no position or means that distinguished them from the middling classes. 1991 B. Wyatt-Brown in W. J. Cash Mind of South Introd. p. xii His family belonged to the middling class of nonslaveholders who were often called ‘the yeomanry’. 1991 Jrnl. Design Hist. 4 235/2 The sorts of text described above were definitely aimed at the middling classes. middling interest n. now historical = middle class n. ΚΠ 1857 E. M. Stone Life of Howland vii. 137 He resolved on attempting to arrest this hostility by creating..a correct public sentiment, and by overlaying it with what is..denominated a ‘middling interest’ influence. 1873 S. A. Drake Old Landmarks & Hist. Personages Boston x. 318 The Haymarket was built by his friends. It was designed to accommodate the middling interest, but the town could not support two theatres. 1987 Jrnl. Amer. Hist. 74 818 Both were challenged by a rising ‘middling interest’ beneath which rumbled a mass of mechanics and artisans. middling-size adj. = middle-sized adj. ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > medium or moderate size > [adjective] middlea1425 middlingc1450 middle-sized1596 middle-size1674 middling-sized1723 middling-size1776 mid-sized1883 mid-size1967 1776 Trial Maha Rajah Nundocomar for Forgery 42/1 Q. What sort of a man was Mahomed Commaul? A. A middling size man. 1795 W. Felton Treat. Carriages II. 94 The appearance of both ought to be conformable to each other, therefore a middling size phaeton to the middling or galloway sized horses suits best. 1832 T. Bridgeman Young Gardener's Assistant (ed. 3) 263 Norfolk Beaufin. Fruit middling size, flattish. 2002 Ottawa Citizen (Nexis) 9 Oct. c7 In other words, McKeown expects to trade on the cachet of being a middling-size American fish returning to a relatively small Canadian pond. middling-sized adj. = middle-sized adj. ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > medium or moderate size > [adjective] middlea1425 middlingc1450 middle-sized1596 middle-size1674 middling-sized1723 middling-size1776 mid-sized1883 mid-size1967 1723 G. Vertue Note-bks. (1934) III. 20 Especially midling sized figures. a1756 E. Haywood New Present (1771) 62 Get four or five middling-sized eels. 1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge iv. 260 A middling-sized dish of beef and ham. 1906 W. D. Howells Let. 24 May in Sel. Lett. (1983) V. 181 Like all the middling-sized towns you ever lived in. 1965 P. Arrowsmith Jericho iii. 14 Camping out..in one middling-sized caravan. † middling teeth n. Obsolete the second (middle) incisor teeth of a horse. ΚΠ 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Middling-Teeth,..are the four teeth of a horse that come out at three years and a half, in the room of other four foal teeth;..from which situation they derive the title of Middling. 1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. at Corner-teeth The four teeth [in a horse] between the middling teeth and the tushes. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022). † middlingadj.² Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: middle v., -ing suffix². Etymology: < middle v. + -ing suffix². Obsolete. rare. Acting as a go-between or intermediary. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [adjective] > acting as intermediate agent > specifically of person mediate1571–2 middling1631 intermediating1694 mesne1812 intermediate1855 1631 B. Jonson Divell is Asse i. vi. 219 in Wks. II What doe you say vnto a middling Gossip? To bring you aye together, at her lodging? This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2021). middlingadv. Brit. /ˈmɪdl̩ɪŋ/, /ˈmɪdlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈmɪd(ə)lɪŋ/ Forms: 1700s– middling, 1800s– middlin (regional), 1800s– middlin' (regional), 1800s– midling (regional). Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: middling adj.¹ Etymology: < middling adj.¹Compare Old English midlunga to a moderate or middling degree. 1. Chiefly colloquial. Modifying an adjective or adverb: moderately, fairly. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > moderateness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb] > fairly reasonably1389 reasonablyc1447 seemlyc1460 reasonable1485 gaily1532 indifferently?c1550 pretty well1576 indifferent1583 tolerably1602 tolerable1673 middling1719 geylies1754 middlingly1755 fairly1805 fairish1818 wellish1830 serviceably1896 1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 123 He form'd out of one of the Iron Crows, a middling good Anvil. 1779 E. Beatty in J. L. Hardenbergh's Jrnl. (1879) 63 The road middling hilly. 1848 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 1st Ser. ii. 27 Mister Sawin, sir, you're middlin' well now, be ye? 1881 H. James Portrait of Lady I. v. 55 She was thin, and light, and middling tall. 1905 J. M. Synge Riders to Sea 41 Cathleen. Is the sea bad..? Nora. Middling bad, God help us. 1951 Scots Mag. Dec. 244 Angus would be middling young at the time..about forty maybe. 1976 D. Francis In Frame vii. 111 Just the middling wealthy with Georgian silver and lesser Gauguins and Chippendale chairs. 1994 C. McWilliam Debatable Land (1995) vi. 145 All the food was middling warm. 2. colloquial and regional. Fairly well; moderately successfully. Also pretty middling. ΚΠ 1805 Portfolio 13 Apr. 110/2 But, just as I'd the knack on't got, and did it pretty middling, I lost my elbow by a shot, And, damme, spoilt my fiddling. 1823 I. Pocock Nigel Epilogue 98 ‘You've got an old husband... How do you like him?’.. ‘Pretty middling.’ 1853 C. Dickens Bleak House xxi. 208 ‘How de do?..’ ‘Middling,’ replies Mr. George. 1894 H. Caine Manxman v. iii. 287 We'll do middling if we get a market. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.¹OEn.²a1525adj.¹c1450adj.²1631adv.1719
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middlingn.1

† middlingn.2

middlingadj.1

Compounds

† middlingadj.2

middlingadv.

middlingn.¹

† middlingn.²

middlingadj.¹

† middlingadj.²