From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Middle \Mid"dle\ (m[i^]d"d'l), a. [OE. middel, AS. middel; akin
to D. middel, OHG. muttil, G. mittel. [root]271. See {Mid},
a.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Equally distant from the extreme either of a number of
things or of one thing; mean; medial; as, the middle house
in a row; a middle rank or station in life; flowers of
middle summer; men of middle age.
[1913 Webster]
2. Intermediate; intervening.
[1913 Webster]
Will, seeking good, finds many middle ends. --Sir J.
Davies.
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Note: Middle is sometimes used in the formation of
self-explaining compounds; as, middle-sized,
middle-witted.
[1913 Webster]
{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
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The middle-class electorate of Great Britain. --M.
Arnold.
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{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[deg] and
230[deg] Centigrade; -- distinguished from the {light
oil}, and the {heavy oil} 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.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
middle class
n 1: the social class between the lower and upper classes [syn:
{middle class}, {bourgeoisie}]
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