midwayn.adv.adj.prep.
/ˌmɪdˈweɪ/, /ˈmɪdˌweɪ/, U.S. /ˈmɪdˌweɪ/, /ˌmɪdˈˌweɪ/ A. n.† 2. A medium, a middle course or state. Obsolete.
1. The middle of the way or distance, the halfway point. poetic in later use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > [noun] > distance between two points > half-way
midwayeOE
midgatea1600
mid-distance1848
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) li. 399 Ðonne bið ðæt swa swa Segor stod on midwege betweox ðæm muntum & ðæm merscum ðe Sodoma on wæs.
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1900) II. 276 Se bisceop ferde sona to þam seocan menn, ac he sona on-get martines mihte ær-þam-þe he to mid-wege come, and wearð sona gehæled.
c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 16 Þa ðæs on mareȝen wolde to hierusalem, ða he wæs on midwæȝe, þa comen him toȝeanes tweȝen siȝelharwon.
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 19 Fro Calabre..to Akoun be see is a ml. ccc myles of lombardye, And the Ile of Crete is right in the myd weye.
c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure 2682 Theis weise men..Mett hym in the mydwaye.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vi. 42 It standis in the myd vay betuix the caldnes of Saturn & the byrnand heyt that Mars induris.
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 72 The studie of Letters is..so long and vneasie a iourney, that they which thinke to finish it, oftentimes stay in the midway.
1677 W. Hubbard Narrative (1865) I. 36 Newhaven..seated near the Midway betwixt Hudsons River and that of Connecticut.
1772 Philos. Trans. 1771 (Royal Soc.) 61 256 She mentioned a very steep shelf, or descent, in the midway.
1845 E. A. Poe Tales I. 86 We Norwegians call it the Moskoe-ström, from the island of Moskoe in the midway.
1869 R. Browning Ring & Bk. IV. xi. 139 Go preach that to your nephews, not to me Who, tired i' the midway of my life, would stop And take my first refreshment.
1938 M. Rukeyser U.S. 1 49 This is the midway between water and flame.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > [noun] > middle course
middle way?c1225
midwayc1451
golden mean1541
middle course1579
mid-course1603
middle path1606
third way1638
midstream1670
middle line1692
middle road1759
mid-ground1825
juste milieu1831
via media1834
middle ground1961
c1451 J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert (1910) 70 (MED) Be-twix þe lynand and þe hayir, he chase þe mydwey, and al for he wold haue a conformite be-twix his subiectis and him.
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing ii. i. 78 He were an excellent man that were made iust in the mid-way between him and Benedick. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) iii. iv. 19 No midway 'Twixt these extreames at all. View more context for this quotation
a1656 Bp. J. Hall Shaking of Olive-tree (1660) ii. 168 Our sorrow must walk in a mid-way betwixt neglect and excess!
1677 tr. A.-N. Amelot de La Houssaie Hist. Govt. Venice 56 The Senat having chosen the midway, which in great dangers, and doubtful, is always the worst.
1701 C. Davenant Ess. 163 There being no midway; for as to a Truce..the French, will not consent to it.
1847 R. W. Emerson Poems 162 Nor mount, nor dive; all good things keep The midway of the eternal deep.
1881 R. L. Stevenson Virginibus Puerisque 285 Highly respectable citizens who..keep, with upright hat, upon the midway of custom, avoiding the right hand and the left.
3. North American. (At an exhibition, fair, etc.) a central avenue along which the chief exhibits or amusements are placed; any area of sideshows or amusements; (slang) a hall. Frequently with capital initial and with the.The use originated in the inclusion of the ‘Midway Plaisance’ of Chicago in the grounds of the exposition held there in 1893.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > place of amusement or entertainment > [noun] > cheap place of entertainment
guinguette1779
tingle-tangle1873
honky-tonk1889
midway1893
juke1935
tonk1937
rinky-dink1951
1893 Outing Dec. 208/1 The waiters were the hardiest set on the Midway.
1901 World's Work Aug. 1097/2 Nowadays we frankly admit that the Midway is the strongest magnet of a big fair.
1901 Everybody's Mag. Oct. 427/1 A mile and a half of kerwhango and clash—That is the Midway show.
1926 Amer. Mercury Mar. 334/2 The city dump called Riverview, a miniature Coney Island with skating rinks, a roller coaster, a midway and Ferris wheel.
1932 Evening Sun (Baltimore) 9 Dec. 31/5 Midway, a hall.
1949 Sat. Evening Post 17 Sept. 25/1 I have worked in..big-time railroad shows whose midways had the glitter of a handful of diamonds.
1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It i. 3 There he is on the midway, Grack the Frenchie, talking for his countstore.
1978 Tucson (Arizona) Mag. Dec. 75/1 The multi-hued glass received its name at turn-of-the-century carnivals, where it was given away as prizes at midway games.
1987 N. Spinrad Little Heroes 13 Farther west..were the main-drag midways of Boho,..chockablock with bars, restaurants, galleries, boutiques, and gourmet bodegas.
1997 B. Wagner I'm losing You (1998) 309 When I was a boy, they had midways: sideshows and tattooed ladies, weird stuff in formaldehyde jars.
B. adv.† 2. Moderately, to a moderate degree. Obsolete. rare.
1.
a. In or to the middle of the way or distance; halfway. Chiefly with between or through.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > [adverb] > in the midst or middle of a period of time
midOE
midwayc1230
mean1439
the world > space > distance > [adverb] > half-way or midway
half-wayc1405
midgate1511
middle way1569
midway1587
part-way1822
midgates1883
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 210/26 A sunne dei mid wei bitweonen þet [sc. Candlemas] & easter.
c1392 Equatorie of Planetis 42 (MED) Fro cauda til she come mid wey by twix capud & cauda.
a1500 ( Bounds (Sawyer 1546b) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1893) III. 670 Than vp on the rugge mydway [OE Þonne up on hrycg middeweardne].
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. 1216/1 Lithquo, midwaie betwixt Sterling and Edenburgh.
1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles xxi. 38 She..would..make a battrie through his defend parts, which now are midway stopt. View more context for this quotation
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables cxxxiii. 123 The Hare lay'd himself down about Mid-way.
1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year I lived without Aldgate, about midway between Aldgate Church and Whitechappel Bars.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho I. iv. 98 The vapours..floated mid-way down the mountains.
1815 E. Quillinan Monthermer iii. 57 We meet again, in conquest or defeat, Midway through yonder ranks again we meet.
1854 C. M. Yonge Cameos xxx, in Monthly Packet Sept. 184 Midway in the strait he met the French fleet.
1856 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 12 Sept. 697/1 Being in hardness about midway between ordinary cast steel and soft malleable iron.
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Maine Woods (1864) iii He took a cedar shingle or splint..and tied it with cedar-bark by two holes made midway.
1908 J. A. Barry Luck of Native-born 44 Midway between there and Coolgardie..they came to a ‘soak’.
1914 J. Joyce Dubliners 38 When he was midway through his dinner I asked him.
1951 M. Lavin Single Lady 21 The next moment she was midway down the dark passage, groping her way.
1988 S. Afr. Panorama Apr. 37/1 In saltiness its sap is midway between the white mangrove and land trees.
1999 South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) 11 Oct. 23/1 He burst into action midway through the second half with a 50-metre run.
b. U.S. With of. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1812 J. J. Henry Accurate Acct. Campaign against Quebec 192 About midway of the horn [of the moose],..there is a broad flat part.
1858 Harper's Mag. Mar. 520/1 When the meal is about midway of its progression..rise demurely, put your hand to your forehead, and stagger out of the room.
1903 Nation (N.Y.) 17 Sept. 234 He died midway of his 70th year.
1927 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 24 Dec. 44/3 She stopped midway of her sentence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adverb]
mildlyOE
moderatelya1398
middlelya1400
mediocrely?a1425
meetly1476
treatably1527
mildly1567
midway1596
mollifiedlya1640
meeverlya1800
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 117 Nathir sulde ony mervel heirof, quhen na man, quha leiues bot midway temperat, in the tounes of Scotland, is nocht sune rich.
C. adj.
1. † a. Medium, moderate; partial. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > moderateness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective]
evenlya1200
methefully?c1225
renable?1305
reasonablea1325
measurablec1330
skillwisea1340
moderatea1398
temperate1398
meetlya1400
measurablyc1450
rationablec1475
competent1535
midway1573
modest1582
sober1619
medious1657
slack1662
meeverly1819
low key1941
1573 J. Tyrie Refut. Ansuer Knox To Rdr. Als conuenient to begyle the simple reader, as to impesche and trauel men of gude ingyne and midway knawlage, to cum to the vnderstanding of the veritie.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1895) II. 43 He was of midway stature.
1675 G. R. tr. A. Le Grand Man without Passion 59 I confess that I understand not that competent or midway knowledg by him found out.
b. Of an opinion: mediating. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > compromise > [adjective] > occupying middle position
half-seas-over1692
compromise1833
mesothetical1837
mesothetic1851
midway1905
1905 J. Orr Probl. Old Test. ix. 327 The midway theory advocated by Nöldeke.
2. Situated in the middle of the way, occupying the middle; intermediate (in location or degree). Chiefly poetic in earlier use.
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
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xx. 13 The crowes and choghes that wing the midway ayre Shew scarce so grosse as beetles. View more context for this quotation
1745 E. Young Consolation 61 In Mid-way Flight Imagination tires.
a1807 W. Wordsworth Prelude (1959) vii. 258 The midway region..Is throng'd with staring pictures, and huge scrolls.
1879 ‘G. Eliot’ Theophrastus Such xii. 221 The midway parting of his crisp hair.
1898 G. Meredith Odes French Hist. 29 No more at midway heaven.
1975 J. McPhee Survival of Bark Canoe 15 Looked at from above, it should be broad at the midway point, then taper gradually as it reaches toward the sides.
1987 M. Bergmann Anat. Loving xix. 233 Bak saw love as a midway station between mourning and melancholia.
1992 Business Mag. Summer 12/3 A midway and better approach is to use ‘bullet points’..to remind you of what to say.
D. prep.
In the middle of. Also: midway between. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1798 S. T. Coleridge France in Fears & Solitude 13 Ye woods, that listen to the night-bird's singing, Midway the smooth and perilous steep reclin'd.
1835 A. B. Longstreet Georgia Scenes 72 She placed her right hand about midway the keys, and her left about two octaves below it.
1855 M. F. Maury Physical Geogr. Sea (1859) §13 Midway the Atlantic, in the triangular space between the Azores, Canaries, and the Cape de Verd Islands, is the Sargasso Sea.
1868 A. C. Swinburne in D. G. Rossetti & A. C. Swinburne Notes Royal Acad. Exhib. ii. 45 A boat is moored, and women..are about to enter it: one is already midway the steps of the pier.
1880 L. Wallace Ben-Hur iii. iv. 152 He sailed..to Naxos, the largest of the Cyclades, midway the coasts of Greece and Asia.
1974 State (Columbia, S. Carolina) 3 Mar. 1- d/3 Clemson pulled ahead midway the second half.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.adv.adj.prep.eOE