Etymology: Short for midshipman n. Compare middy n.¹

Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian midde , adjective, mid- , midde- , in compounds, Middle Dutch mid- , midde- , in compounds, Old Saxon middi , adjective, middia , feminine noun, middi , neuter noun (Middle Low German mid- , in compounds, midde , feminine noun (only in oblique cases in prepositional constructions)), Old High German mitti , adjective and feminine and neuter noun, mitti- , in compounds (Middle High German mitte , adjective and feminine noun, mitte- , in compounds, German Mitte , feminine noun), Old Icelandic miðr , adjective, mið- , in compounds, miðja , feminine noun, mið , neuter noun (compare meith n.), Old Swedish miþer, adjective, midh-, in compounds, midhia, feminine noun (Swedish mid-, in compounds, midja, medja, common gender noun), Danish midt, adverb, ‘in the middle’ (originally neuter form of adjective), midje, common gender noun, Gothic midjis, adjective < the Indo-European base of Sanskrit madhya-, Avestan maiδya-, ancient Greek (Aeolic) μέσσος, (Attic-Ionic) μέσος, classical Latin medius, all adjectives in sense ‘middle’, Early Irish mide, noun, ‘the middle’ (later mostly superseded by the form medón, with nasal extension: compare Old Welsh ymeun, Welsh mewn, preposition, ‘inside’), Old Church Slavonic mežda boundary, street, meždu, locative case of noun, ‘between’, Russian meža boundary, meždu between.The Old English weak feminine noun midde (see B.) is attested only in oblique cases, chiefly in the phrase on middan (compare amid prep. and adv.). In origin a nominal use of the weak adjective. Compare also the parallel Old English combining form middan- middle (e.g. middandæg (compare midday n.), middansumor (compare midsummer n.), middanwinter (compare midwinter n.)): see middenerd n. The position of the stress in compounds with mid- as first element varies in accordance with the general stress patterns of English. Contrastive stress may also give rise contextually to primary stress on the first syllable in compounds where the stress ordinarily falls elsewhere.

Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian mith , Middle Dutch met , mit (Dutch met ), Old Saxon mid , mit , met (Middle Low German mit , (rare) met ), Old High German mit (Middle High German mit , German mit ), Old Icelandic með , meðr , Norwegian med , Old Swedish mäþ , medh (Swedish med ), Old Danish mæth , met (Danish med ), Gothic miþ (in compounds mid- ), probably ultimately < the same Indo-European base as (with different root extension) ancient Greek μετά with, between (compare meta- prefix), Albanian mjet up to, among, between, and (with a different ablaut grade) Avestan maṭ together with. Compare mide adv. and prep.Old English and Middle English forms with final -t chiefly result from devoicing and assimilation before words beginning with an unvoiced consonant (frequently a dental or sibilant); compare also the following contracted forms: Old English mitte (for mid þe when, while), mittȳ (for mid þȳ when, while), Middle English mitte (for mid the with you), mitti (for mid thi with your), etc. (the form myȝtte in quot. c1350 at sense A. 1a is a scribal error for mytte (i.e. ‘with you’) arising from confusion with mytte and myȝtte , variants of might n.¹). The Middle English forms miþ , mið are perhaps reflexes of identical Old English (non-West Saxon) forms, or perhaps (more likely) blends of mid and with prep. Middle English forms with final -e (perhaps after inne prep.) are chiefly used postpositively. Old English and Middle English mid had approximately the same range of senses as modern English with , with the exception of senses denoting opposition (compare with prep. I.). In Old English mid and wið are sometimes opposed (compare quot. lOE¹ at sense A. 1a; and also Old English mid streame in the sense ‘with the stream’, as opposed to wið streame in the sense ‘against the stream’ (see sense A. 1b). By the end of the 14th cent., mid had been superseded by with ; it probably survives as the first element of the compound midwife n. In Old English, the preposition is usually construed with the dative; examples with the accusative are rare and chiefly Anglian.

Etymology: Aphetic < amid prep.