Middle Englishn.adj.
/ˌmɪdl ˈɪŋ(ɡ)lɪʃ/, U.S. /ˌmɪd(ə)l ˈɪŋ(ɡ)lɪʃ/ A. n.
The English language in the period between Old English and modern English, usually considered to be from about 1100–50 until about 1450–1500.Middle English is characterized particularly by a reduced system of grammatical inflections, an increased lexical borrowing from other languages, esp. French and Latin, and great dialectal diversity in writing.
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the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Germanic > English > Middle English
Semi-Saxon1735
Middle English1830
ME1874
1830 Foreign Rev. Mar. 496 Dr. Grimm..introducing between the ancient and modern four intermediate Teutonic languages, which he styles middle high Dutch, middle nether Dutch (meaning low Dutch), middle Netherlandish (i.e. Dutch), and middle English.
1839 T. Wright Ess. Lit. & Learning under Anglo-Saxons 107 The form of our language during the twelfth and the first half of the thirteenth century is generally termed Semi-Saxon; from that period to the time of the Reformation it has received from modern philologists the name of Middle-English.
1874 H. Sweet Hist. Eng. Sounds 160 Old English is the period of full inflections..Middle English of levelled inflections..and Modern English of lost inflections.
1878 J. A. H. Murray in Encycl. Brit. VIII. 391/2 Transition Old English, or ‘Semi-Saxon’ 1120 to 1200... Transition Middle English 1400 to 1485... Many writers carry the Transition Old English down to 1250.
1919 E. Classen Outl. Hist. Eng. Lang. ii. 35 The survivals of free word order which were to be found in Old English disappeared in Middle English.
1963 F. T. Visser Hist. Syntax Eng. Lang. I. iv. 425 The period of transition from Old to Middle English is characterised by a considerable number of remarkable changes in the form of most of the reflexive pronoun-objects.
1991 Amer. Speech 66 362 The verbal ‘rection’ (i.e., force) of the noun in -ing had been established in Middle English.
B. adj.
Of or relating to Middle English.
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the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [adjective] > Indo-European > Germanic > English > Middle English
Middle English1833
Semi-Saxon1847
1833 Philol. Museum 2 386 The forms of the Middle and New English strong conjugations.
1887 W. D. Parish & W. F. Shaw Dict. Kentish Dial. Introd. 8 The specimens of Kentish in the Early and Middle English Periods.
1933 R. Tuve Seasons & Months i. 13 This description..includes the same details as the opening stanza of a Middle English spring song or an Old French reverdie.
1953 A. J. Bliss in Archivum Linguisticum 5 22 (title) Vowel-quantity in Middle English borrowings from Anglo-Norman.
1962 Amer. Speech 37 154 A Trager–Smith analysis of the Middle English long mid vowels.
1992 T. Cable in C. Blank Lang. & Civilization I. 174 Lawman's Brut..lacks certain prosodic principles that were present in Old English poetry a century and a half earlier and other prosodic principles that were added to Middle English alliterative poetry.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1830