| 释义 |
▪ I. mid, a., n.1, and adv.|mɪd|
Forms: 1 mid(d)-, 3–6 myd, 4 myde, 4–7 midde, 5 mydde, 6 midd, 3– mid.
[Com. Teut. and Indogermanic: OE. midd (found only in inflected forms, midde, middes, midre, midne, etc.) corresponds to OFris. midde, medde, OS. middi, OHG. mitti (MHG. mitte), ON. mið-r, Goth. midjis:—OTeut. *međjo-:—Indo-germanic *medhyo-, whence Skr. madhya, Zend maidya, Gr. µέσσος (:—*methyos), later µέσος, L. medius, OCeltic medio- (in place-names), OIrish mide n., middle.]
A. adj.
1. a. In partitive concord, expressing adjectivally the sense: (The) middle or midst of. (In mod. Eng. usually hyphened.)
Originally mid in this sense could be used without restriction, but in mod.Eng. its application has been greatly narrowed. It is still extensively used in scientific and technical language; and it is common (though rather literary than colloquial) in advb. phrases formed with in prep., the article being most frequently omitted, as in mid-career, in mid-volley (see d); but the use of phrases of this type not traditionally current is apt to seem affected. The attributive use of the combinations of mid- is also frequent.
c1160Hatton Gosp. Mark vi. 47 And þa æfen wæs þæt scyp wæs on midre sæ. c1350Will. Palerne 3605 Ac williams spere was stef wittow for soþe, & mette þat oþer man in þe midde scheld. 1375Barbour Bruce xviii. 132 Quhen in myd cawse war thai [etc.]. a1400Sir Perc. 2062 The clobe in the erthe stode To the midschafte it wode. 1489Paston Lett. III. 347 It [a whale] is xj. fadam and more of length, and ij. fadam of bygnes..in the mydde fyssh. 1513Douglas æneis iv. ii. 53 Begyn scho wald to tell furth hir intent And in the myd word stop, and hald hir still. 1557–75Diurn. of Occurr. (Bannatyne Cl.) 104 Quhair at ane tabill sat the quenis Majestie at mydburd. 1609T. Heywood Troia Brit. ii. 2 Nor did that Nation first on earth begin Vnder the mid Equator. 1610Healey St. Aug. Citie of God xvi. viii. (1620) 548 Some that haue but one eye in their mid-fore-head. 1618M. Baret Horsemanship i. 48 He must obserue that the vse of the hand is not to cut and teare the Horses mouth vp to the mid-cheeke, as many heauy hands doe. 1647J. Hall Poems ii. 104 Thou who canst stop the Sea In her mid-rage, stop me. a1667Milton in Birch Life M.'s Wks. 1738 I. 43 Next some Shepheard or companie of Merchants passing through the Mount in the time that Abram was in the midwork, relate to Sarah what they saw. 1681Dryden Span. Friar i. i, I'll plant my Colours down In the Mid-breach. 1727–46Thomson Summer 9 Hence, let me haste into the mid-wood shade. 1742Young Nt. Th. ix. 954 Now Sons of Riot in Mid-Revel rage. 1753G. West Odes of Pindar, etc. I. 228 The sacred Image, that fell down from Heav'n, In the Mid-Gally utter'd thus her Voice. 1810Sir A. Boswell Edinb. Poet. Wks. (1871) 48 In mid-street, fit theme for laureate bard, The proper Castle of the City Guard. 1810Scott Lady of L. iii. xiv, The plough was in mid-furrow stayed. 1818Keats Endym. i. 18 The mid-forest brake, Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms. 1829Scott Doom Devorgoil iii. iv, We counter'd..even in mid-chamber. 1833L. Ritchie Wand. by Loire 59 A column of smoke rising from the mid-surface of a perpendicular rock. 1852J. Wiggins Embanking 86 Between the mid-tide level and the low-water level of neaps. Ibid., An hour before mid-ebb, and for the same time after mid-flow. 1853Grote Greece ii. lxxxviii. XI. 513 Though this seems a strange proceeding during mid-war, yet [etc.]. 1853G. J. Whyte-Melville Digby Grand I. viii. 206 Every oar above the surface, as though arrested in mid-stroke by a charm. 1859Tennyson Elaine 553 A Prince In the mid might and flourish of his May. Ibid. 874 Yet the great knight in his mid-sickness made Full many a holy vow and pure resolve. 1860Reade Cloister & H. xxxvii, He..suddenly rising in mid narrative, said [etc.]. 1862G. A. Lawrence Barr. Hon. I. v. 95 Just as a fencer might do touched sharply in mid-chest by his opponent's foil. 1871Farrar Witn. Hist. ii. 82 A prophet of anarchy and naturalism, in the mid confession of his faith. 1873Ruskin Fors Clav. xxiii. 17 If the spider, or other monster in midweb, ate you. 1879Sir G. G. Scott Lect. Archit. I. 278 By placing the glass in..the mid-thickness of the wall. 1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 94 Occasionally it [sc. a pain] is felt in the mid-axilla.
b. With article or possessive adj. interposed between the adj. and n. Obs.
Prob. due to association with the construction of on middan: see amid. Cf. the still surviving similar use of half a. (1 b).
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xlix. 383 Gað from ᵹeate to ᵹeate ðurh midde ða ceastre. a900tr. Bæda's Hist. v. i. §2 Ða we ða wæron on midre ðære sæ. a1225Ancr. R. 146 Hwui drawest tu ut þine rihte hond of midden þine boseme [tr. L. de medio sinu]? c1420Liber Cocorum (1862) 19 Be sleȝe and powre in water þenne To myd þo pot.
c. Prefixed to the name of a month or season, or the designation of a period of time. Also in † mid eld, middle age.
c1000Sax. Leechd. III. 162 He leng ne leofað þonn on midre ilde. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4005 Amidde haruest [MS. δ at myd haruest] we þe setteþ day of þis nexte ȝere. a1330Roland & V. 10 Opon his fest in midmay Ther on is front of gret noblay. 14..Stockh. Med. MS. ii. 332 in Anglia XVIII. 315 Betwen mydde march & mydde aprille. c1485E.E. Misc. (Warton Cl.) 11 At myd-undure-none wonderly I waxe. 1508Dunbar Twa Mariit Wemen 297 He was a man of myd eld. 1586Earl of Leicester Corr. (Camden) 251, I would haue Antwerpe towne and Burges or midd June. 1615R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 130 Bout mid-belten twas. 1722De Foe Plague (Rtldg.) 25 It was now mid-July. 1859Tennyson Geraint 612 As a leaf in mid-November is To what it was in mid-October. 1893F. Adams New Egypt 86 From mid-June to mid-October. 1896Howells Impressions & Exp. 222 The wind rises, and by mid-afternoon, blows half a gale. 1898G. B. Shaw Perfect Wagnerite 34 A..melodic bogey to mid-century ears. 1902M. Barnes-Grundy Thames Camp 123, I have trouble over my mid-morning bathes on account of passing boats. 1906Dialect Notes III. 146 The mid-term examinations will begin the last of January. 1923D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 103 A disgusting bat At mid-morning. 1928T. S. Eliot For Lancelot Andrewes 76 Arnold turned from mid-century Radicalism. 1938Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Year 700/1 There are 1,200 firms in Britain now operating such amenities as a ten-minute mid-morning break. 1951I. Shaw Troubled Air xv. 248 The mid-afternoon coffee was put up in containers. 1952C. P. Blacker Eugenics 259 At about mid-pregnancy, identical twins differ more in size than do fraternal. 1953Manch. Guardian Weekly 1 Oct. 1 The Administration party loses seats at the ‘mid-term’ elections. 1958P. Shore in N. Mackenzie Conviction 23 All over Britain a new mid-twentieth-century society is coming vigorously to life. 1959P. Townend Died o' Wednesday xii. 216 Chance customers who dropped in for mid-morning coffee, light lunches and afternoon tea. 1961Lancet 5 Aug. 280/1 The gradual change in uterine activity begins as early in pregnancy as midterm. 1968A. Diment Gt. Spy Race iv. 53 The obscure type faces which these mid-century tailors use to advertise their dens. 1972J. McClure Caterpillar Cop ix. 144 The last lesson before mid-morning break. 1973Guardian 19 Apr. 14/2 The people who fear it [sc. the Watergate scandal] will hurt them are Republican candidates for next year's mid-term elections.
d. In various customary collocations or combinations with n., as mid-career, mid-channel, mid-flight, mid-race, mid-river, mid-sentence, mid-stride, mid-thigh, mid-volley. Also mid-Atlantic, (a) the middle of the Atlantic Ocean; (b) something that has both British and American characteristics, or is designed to appeal to both the British and the Americans; also attrib. or as adj.; mid-band a. Electronics, of or pertaining to the middle of a band of frequencies; mid-brain = mesencephalon; mid-breast Ent. = medipectus; mid-breast-bone Ent. = mesosternum; mid-calf, (a) the ‘pluck’ of a calf; (b) attrib. or as adj., describing a garment that reaches half-way down the calf of the leg; mid-chest Ent. = mesothorax; mid-cycle a. and n. Physiol., (occurring at) the middle of the menstrual cycle; mid-kidney Anat. = mesonephron; mid-main poet., mid-ocean; mid-square a. Math., describing a method of generating a pseudorandom sequence of digits by squaring an arbitrary large number, taking the middle digits of the result (usu. half the total number of digits, a zero being added at the left if necessary to make the total even), and using these as the first digits of the series and as the number to be squared to provide the next digits, and so on indefinitely; mid-sun (rare) = midday sun; mid-totality Astr., the middle of the duration of the totality of an eclipse; mid-town, midtown chiefly U.S., the middle of a town; a central area in a town or city; freq. attrib.; mid-wicket, in Cricket, † (a) = mid-off (obs.); when there was a corresponding fieldsman on the other side of the wicket, the two were distinguished as mid-wicket on (or mid-on) and mid-wicket off (or mid-off); (b) a fieldsman or position between mid-off and square-leg.
1892‘Mark Twain’ Amer. Claimant 65 Two shipments would meet and part in *mid-Atlantic. 1897Proc. Zool. Soc. 351 Monachus, the Seal of the Mid-Atlantic. 1940G. Greene 19 Stories (1947) 184 Central heating gave it the stuffy smell of mid-Atlantic. 1957M. Swan Brit. Guiana i. 25 He was drowned..when the ship in which he was returning to England from the United States was wrecked in mid-Atlantic. 1958Spectator 7 Feb. 164/1, I crossed swords with the redoubtable Douglas Fairbanks Jr. on whether or not his television films could justly be called ‘British’..; my argument was that as they aim at the American—or ‘mid-Atlantic’—market, they do not deserve the name. 1962Radio Times 22 Nov. 41/2 A spell in Hollywood where he was sent by the studio to which he was under contract to acquire a ‘mid-Atlantic’ accent. 1970Observer 8 Feb. 30/6 There's another sameness too, a mid-Atlantic look.
1956Nature 25 Feb. 392/2 At a *mid-band wave-length of 3·2 cm., an input-voltage standing-wave ratio of 0·9 or better can be achieved over a 10 per cent band-width. 1962Simpson & Richards Physical Princ. Junction Transistors xiii. 300 The mid-band voltage gain.
1875Huxley & Martin Elem. Biol. (1877) 185 The encephalon lies in the cranial cavity, which it nearly fills, and is divisible into the hind-brain, the *mid-brain, and the fore-brain.
1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. xxxv. 562 We will next say something upon those..that compose the medipectus or *mid-breast.
Ibid. 566 The central part of the medipectus, or that which passes between the mid-legs when elevated, protended, or otherwise remarkable, is called the mesosternum or *mid-breast-bone.
1789Farley Lond. Art Cookery i. xi. (ed. 6) 116 A *Midcalf. Stuff a calf's heart..and send it to the oven... When you dish it up, pour the mincemeat in the bottom... Set the heart in the middle, and lay the [fried] liver and bacon over the minced meat. 1805Eliz. Raffald Eng. Housekeeper (new ed.) 101 A good way to dress a Midcalf. 1816Yng. Woman's Comp. 1 In a Calf,..the head and inwards are called the pluck; in some places they are called the calf's race, and in others, the mid-calf. 1967Harper's Bazaar Sept. 45 The mid-calf hem for day. 1969Guardian 30 July 7/1 Courrèges..does in fact show one or two midcalf dresses for late day. 1974Country Life 24 Jan. 181/1 Slim, mid-calf dresses in tiny stripes.
1730–46Thomson Autumn 363 How, in his *mid-career, the spaniel, struck Stiff by the tainted gale. 1839–40W. Irving Wolfert's R. (1855) 92 He sees their concussion, man to man, and horse to horse, in mid-career. 1879Farrar St. Paul I. 207 Souls which have been arrested in mid-career by the heart-searching voice of God.
1762More in Phil. Trans. LII. 452 It being a light Levant,..and both ships near *mid-chanel. 1879Froude Cæsar xvi. 267 At sunrise they were in midchannel,..with the cliffs of Britain plainly visible.
1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. xxxiii. 379 A partition..passing down vertically into the *mid-chest.
1951C. K. Weichert Anat. Chordates ix. 399 This is the condition at the time of ovulation, and the endometrium is said to be of the *mid-cycle type. 1952E. S. Taylor Man. Gynecol. iii. 19 At mid-cycle a ripened ovum is extruded from the ovary. 1965J. H. Burn Lect. Notes Pharmacol. (ed. 8) 93 The function of the progestogen is to prevent ‘break-through’ bleeding in the mid-cycle. 1974Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Stud. III. xxviii. 33/2 These pills relieve dysmenorrhoea, premenstrual tension, midcycle pain or bleeding, and regulate previously irregular periods.
1896Brit. Birds I. 41 It will stop in *midflight and poise itself. 1932W. Faulkner Light in August v. 98 It did not vanish in midflight. 1948R. Graves Coll. Poems 219 That sea-birds of all sorts that flock About the Bass, repeatedly Collide in mid-flight. 1969Listener 6 Feb. 163/1 (caption) The Lunar Excursion Module (centre) after mid-flight reassembly of the spacecraft has taken place, to allow two astronauts to enter the module from the main unit.
1862G. M. Hopkins Vision of Mermaids (1929), Mermaids..ring the knells Of seamen whelm'd in chasms of the *mid-main.
1959Times 5 Oct. 4/7 It is easy to criticize Eldon for his wasteful short bursts in *mid-race.
1571Golding Calvin on Ps. lx. 1 (Interamnis) which may be termed in Englishe, (*Midriver). 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 186 We paddled on towards it, hugging the right-hand bank again to avoid the mid-river rocks.
1901H. G. Wells First Men in Moon xiii. 104, I looked up, and stopped in *mid-sentence. 1967Coast to Coast 1965-66 30 She paused in mid-sentence.
1951Appl. Math. Ser. Nat. Bureau of Standards (U.S.) XII. 33 (heading) The *mid-square method of generating digits. 1968P. A. P. Moran Introd. Probability Theory i. 46 The midsquare method has, however, been shown to be unsatisfactory.
1932W. Faulkner Light in August xix. 436 The one stopped in the act of crouching from the leap, the other in *midstride of running. 1957T. Hughes Hawk in Rain 51 And his foot hung like Statuary in mid-stride.
1810Southey Kehama xxiii. x, The Diamond City blazing on its height With more than *mid-sun splendour.
c1275XI Pains of Hell 97 in O.E. Misc. 150 Summe..þat stondeþ vp to heore kneon And summe to heore *myd-þeyh. 1506–7Acc. Ld. Treas. Scotl. (1901) III. 252 Item, for ij elne quhit, to be tua pair hos for the King to his myd thee, vij s. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 158 The grass..being as high as our mid-thigh. 1872Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 790 Mid-thigh-deep in bulrushes.
1879Proctor Rough Ways (1880) 5 At the time of *mid-totality a bright light shone round the moon.
1934Webster, *Mid-town (s.v. mid-). 1952S. Kauffmann Philanderer (1953) ix. 157 They went to the roof garden of a midtown hotel. 1959J. Cary Captive & Free 41 The mid-town terraces which can and have so easily become slum tenements. 1963Listener 31 Jan. 202/2 In the very middle of mid-town, just off (and even just on) Broadway, the whole street is sometimes used as an open-air loading bay and temporary warehouse. 1974Times 19 Jan. 10/1 New York is not yet on a three-day week, but..mid-town restaurants are doing badly.
1667Milton P.L. vi. 854 Yet half his strength he put not forth, but check'd His Thunder in *mid Volie.
1744J. Love Cricket 15 He, at *Mid wicket, disappoints the Foe. 1849Boy's Own Bk. 78 Mid-wicket on, long slip, and mid-wicket-off. 1850‘Bat’ Cricket. Man. 44 Mid-Wicket divides the ground between the cover point and bowler.
e. Occasionally the combination of mid + n. (without prep.) is used adverbially. (Probably mid in this use is apprehended as a prep. = amid: cf. amidships.)
1533Bellenden Livy v. xx. (S.T.S.) II. 214 Þai sufferit þe Inemyis to ascend myd montane. 1706Maule Hist. Picts in Misc. Scot. I. 59 Inch Keth lyeth mid-firth almost betwixt Leith and Kinghorn. 1808Forsyth Beauties Scotl. V. 298 About mid-hill there is commonly moss. 1837Sir F. Palgrave Merch. & Friar (1844) 80 An open gallery, midheight in the guildhall wall. 1847Tennyson Princess iv. 170 To drench his dark locks in the gurgling wave Mid-channel. 1871― Last Tourn. 487 The red dream Fled with a shout, and that low lodge return'd, Mid-forest, and the wind among the boughs. 1884Child Ballads I. 376/1 She struck him midshoulders, so that he fell to the ground. 1887G. Meredith Ballads & P. 86 Light that Caught him mid-gallop, blazed him home.
f. In comb. with adjs. with the general sense, ‘belonging to the middle portion of the designated tract or period’; as mid-agrarian, mid-arctic, mid-clavicular, mid-diastolic, mid-dorsal, mid-facial, mid-frontal, mid-Italian, mid-monthly, mid-sternal, mid-thoracic, mid-ventral, mid-Victorian (hence as n.; also † mid-Vic n. and adj. in the same senses) adjs. Also mid-Victorianism.
1855J. G. Baker Flower. Pl. 9 Climatic zones{ddd}3. *Midagrarian to Midarctic.
1902H. J. Stiles in D. J. Cunningham Text-bk. Anat. 1184 In a well-proportioned subject, the *mid-clavicular line, if prolonged downwards, will be found to be continuous with the vertical Poupart line. 1961Lancet 9 Sept. 573/2 A hyperactive precordium with the maximum apical impulse in the left fifth intercostal space outside the midclavicular line was noted.
1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 944 At the apex was heard a *mid-diastolic murmur.
1879St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 242 The fracture was in the *mid-dorsal region.
1890Syd. Soc. Lex., *Midfacial height,..the distance from the naso-frontal suture to the alveolar border of the superior maxillary bone measured on the median line.
Ibid., *Midfrontal area, the area of the skull included between two vertical lines drawn upwards from the supra-orbital arch through the frontal eminence to the coronal suture. Midfrontal process, the median azygous process of the fronto-nasal process in the embryo.
1895Mackail Lat. Lit. i. 11 The keen and narrow political instinct, by which the small and straggling *mid-Italian town grew to be arbitress of the world.
1895Daily News 15 Apr. 2/6 The declaration of options for the *mid-monthly settlement gave a little animation to the first part of the day's business.
1902H. J. Stiles in D. J. Cunningham Text-bk. Anat. 1184 The vertical lines are: the *mid-sternal, the lateral sternal, [etc.]. 1963Lancet 12 Jan. 111/1 She had a severe midsternal pain which continued overnight, preventing sleep.
1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 980 It [i.e. the cardiac apex] may overpass the vertical *mid-thoracic line.
1904Amer. Naturalist Feb. 123 The median vein lies along the *mid-ventral line of the swollen abdomen. 1925J. T. Jenkins Fishes Brit. Isles 315 Its colour was almost black dorsally..with an irregular mid-ventral streak.
1933E. Hamilton Halcyon Era 6 The papers, over which the poor *Midvics yawned in ill-concealed boredom, dealt almost exclusively with Court news. Ibid. 32 The studied Midvic pose. Ibid. 39 No one was ever allowed to take anything off in Midvic days.
1901F. H. Burnett Making of Marchioness ii. xiv. 280 ‘She was so respectable?’ ‘She was even a little *Mid-Victorian, dear Mary.’ 1902Monthly Rev. Aug. 150 The domestic style which we in England call the Mid-Victorian. 1927Mid-Victorian [see Edwardian a. 3]. 1965N. St. John-Stevas in Bagehot Coll. Works I. 79 Bagehot was never in the least infected by the vulgar No Popery of the mid-Victorians. 1969H. Perkin Key Profession iii. 81 The mid-Victorian reforms which reduced the power of the ‘Heads of Houses’.
1923Daily Mail 12 Feb. 13 The artist..had an eccentric taste for *mid-Victorianism. 1927W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 62 The peg-top trousers of mid-Victorianism.
2. a. Occupying a central, medial, or intermediate position. Now rare (exc. as in b, c, d, e); superseded in ordinary use by middle a.
c1440Jacob's Well 187 Feendys comyn & brokyn vp..two cheynes of þat stonyn coffre. Þe myd-cheyne was stylle hole. c1550Exam. W. Thorpe in Foxe A. & M. (1583) I. 534 In the secret of the midde Masse on Christmas day it is written thus: Idem [etc.]. 1577–8Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 665 To remove the occasioun be sum mid and indifferent way. 1612Donne Elegy on Death Pr. Henry 85 Our Soules best baiting, and midd-period, In her long journey, of considering God. 1648Bp. Hall Sel. Th. §63 Betwixt both these extremes, if we would have our souls prosper, a middisposition must be attained. 1656Stanley Hist. Philos. v. (1701) 196/1 Betwixt these is a mid-nature. c1810Coleridge in Lit. Rem. (1838) III. 339 The spirit of life in the mid or balancing state between fixation and reviviscence. 1819Keats Isabella xxxii, In the mid-days of autumn. 1838Mrs. Browning Seraphim ii. (1892) 75 A woman kneels The mid cross under.
b. spec. (a) Phonetics. Of a vowel-sound: produced with the tongue or some part of it in a middle position between high and low. Freq. Comb.
1876[see high a. 4 b]. 1908H. Sweet Sounds of Eng. 25 If the tongue stops exactly half-way, we obtain the normal ‘mid’ position, as in the first elements of ei and ou, which are mid-front and mid-back respectively. 1927J. J. Hogan Eng. Lang. in Ireland 60 He notices the representation of M.E. ē slack by a mid-vowel: ‘They pronounce the words tea, sea, please, as if they were written, tay, say, plays; instead of tee, see, pleese.’ 1935Harvard Stud. Philol. & Lit. XVII. 44 A diphthong whose first element was at first a mid-front vowel, and later..low-front-slack, mid-back-tense, or possibly ‘neutral’. 1961R. B. Long Sentence & its Parts xix. 415 For mid-central /ɜ/ the tip of the tongue is characteristically pulled back and elevated slightly. 1965Language XLI. 346 Ngbaka shows only four sequences: high-mid, mid-high, mid-low, and low-mid. 1965[see down-glide]. 1965[see high-tone (high a. 22 a)].
(b) Of a colour: occupying a middle position in a range of shades.
1916Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 1 July 12/3 (Advt.), The colors include white, cream,..mid-brown, lemon, [etc.]. Ibid. 23 July 6/1 Gowns..in navy, black, mid-blue, [etc.]. 1929Radio Times 8 Nov. 439/2 (Advt.), This stylish coat... In bottle green, burgundy, dk. brown, mid brown, navy and black. 1937Discovery Oct. 325/2 The complementary..of mid-yellow is violet-blue. 1971Vogue 15 Oct. 8 Dress..in violet, fir green and mid grey.
c. In collocations, generally hyphened, as mid-current, mid-dish, mid-division, mid-hour, mid-incisor, mid-link, mid-lobe, mid-part, mid-pillar, mid-point, mid-position, mid-region, mid-section, mid-term, mid-toe, mid-vein, mid-walk, mid-zone.
1870Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. i. (1873) 364 The *mid-current of ever-gathering faith in duty.
1764E. Moxon Eng. Housew. (ed. 9) 84 They [sc. oyster loaves] are proper either for a side-dish or *mid-dish.
1885Act 48 & 49 Vict. c. 23 Sched. vii. 11, County of Lanark..The *Mid Division.
1415in York Myst. Introd. 34 At the *mydhowre betwix iiijth and vth of the cloke. 1667Milton P.L. v. 376 These mid-hours, til Eevning rise I have at will. 1703Rowe Ulyss. iii. i, The Mid-hour of rowling Night.
1879Flower Catal. Mus. Coll. Surg. i. 36 The deciduous *mid-incisors, canines, and molars.
1904Athenæum 25 June 821/2 Prof. W. P. Ker offers important suggestions regarding French *mid-links between the Danish and the Scottish ballads.
1870Hooker Stud. Flora 263 Lower lip spreading, *mid-lobe smallest.
c1440Promp. Parv. 337/1 Myddys, or the *myd part of a thynge, medium. 1665Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 121 Their mid parts circled with a Zone of vari-coloured Plad.
1535Coverdale Judg. xvi. 29 He toke holde of y⊇ two *mydpilers, that the house stode vpon & was holden by.
c1369Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 660 Therwith fortune sayd checke here And mate in *mydde poynte of ye checkere. 1856Hawthorne Eng. Note-bks. (1879) II. 80 The dreary midpoint of the..plain.
1888J. Rose Mod. Machine-Shop Practice II. xxxvii. 379/1 As the eccentric is in *mid-position (e being equi⁓distant from B and D), the valve will be in mid-position. 1896Rules governing Printing of Specifications (U.S. Govt. Printing Office) 53 Mid-position. 1953L. T. C. Rolt Railway Adventure iv. 106 We succeeded after some difficulty in doing this,..locking the valve in mid-position by screwing up the spindle gland nuts dead tight. 1957R. W. Zandvoort Handbk. Eng. Gram. vi. 251 Mid-position of an adverb is apt to entail a brief pause between the adverb and the object. 1971Engineering Apr. 47/1 When the sensed dimension is such that the core B is in its mid-position the primary flux is [etc.].
1879St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 80 In one, the left *mid-region was the part most involved.
1961Webster *Midsection, a section midway or about midway between the extremes; midriff. 1969Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. li. 5 Midsection, representation of the kayak's profile if intersected by a plane perpendicular to the keel-line at the mid-point of the craft. 1972Sci. Amer. Sept. 136/3 A four-foot structure with a cathode at one end and a collector at the other and a large electromagnet surrounding the midsection. 1973Ibid. July 24/2 Actually all the horns called conical incorporate a certain amount of cylindrical tubing in their midsection. 1974Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) 26 Oct. 4D/1 He is not throwing any punches. Instead, he is permitting Williams to pound him in the midsection.
1869J. Martineau Ess. II. 231 [We] refer it to the *mid-term of ordinary life.
1894Geol. Mag. Oct. 454 Projecting at a right angle to the line of the *mid-toe.
1857T. Moore Handbk. Brit. Ferns (ed. 3) 168 Venation (pinnules) consisting of a flexuous *midvein.
1860Allingham in Athenæum 10 Mar. 340 By yellow-leafy *midwalk slow foots that aged Sexton.
1886A. Winchell Walks Geol. Field 115 A constant temperature would then exist..at the *mid-zone in the crust.
d. mid-sixties, mid-nineties, etc.: the middle years of the seventh, tenth, etc., decade of a century.
1898Nat. Rev. Aug. 843 In the mid-sixties, abundant experiment had seemed to show that [etc.]. 1900Daily News 1 June 6/4 The progress which has been made since the mid-nineties in the fostering of Irish not only as a literary, but as a spoken language.
e. Special collocations: mid-angle, an angle of 45° (Cent. Dict. 1890); mid-body Cytology [tr. G. zwischenkörper (W. Flemming 1891, in Arch. f. mikrosk. Anat. XXXVII. 690)] (see quots.); mid-brow n. and a. = middle-brow (middle A. 6); mid-circle, † (a) the great circle equidistant from the poles of a sphere; (b) the circle passing through the middle points of the sides of a triangle; † mid cost, the midrib; mid couple, Sc. † (a) a link for fastening garments; (b) pl. in Law, the documents by which an heir, assignee, etc., is connected with a precept of sasine granted to his predecessor or author; midcrop, a crop harvested between the main crops; Midcult, midcult orig. U.S., middle-brow culture; also attrib.; † mid-dinner, a meal between dinner and supper; mid-distance = middle distance; Mid-East, mid-East, Mideast = Middle East; also attrib.; mid-European a. = Middle-European adj. (middle A. 6); also as n.; mid-fi, sound-reproduction equipment of a slightly lower quality than hi-fi; also attrib. or as adj.; mid-finger (obs. exc. dial.) = middle-finger; mid-gut, the mesenteron; mid-impediment, Sc. Law (see quot. 1838); mid-iron Golf, an ‘iron’ with medium degree of ‘pitch’ or ‘loft’; also a stroke made with this; † mid knowledge, mediate knowledge; mid-layer Biol. = mesoderm (Cent. Dict.); † mid-meat, ? = mid-dinner; † mid-motion, mean motion; mid-parent Anthropol. (see quot. 1889); mid-parentage, relation to the ‘mid-parent’; so mid-parental a.; † mid-part adv., as far as the middle, half-way; † mid-person Sc., an intermediary; † mid-row grains Coal Mining (see quot.); midˈsagittal a. Anat. = median a.1; mid-shot Cinemat. and T.V. (see quot. 1953); mid-spoon Golf, a ‘spoon’ of medium size; † mid-Sunday, the Sunday next Midsummer day; mid superior Sc. Law, one who is superior to those below him, and vassal to those above him (Ogilvie 1882), a mesne lord; hence mid-superiority, the position of a mid-superior; mid-watch, the middle watch; mid-west, mid-West = Middle West (middle A. 6); mid-western, mid-Western a. = Middle Western (middle A. 6); mid-westerner, mid-Westerner, an inhabitant of the Middle West; (also in form Midwest, etc.); mid-wing a. Aeronaut. having the main wings placed approximately halfway between the top and bottom of the fuselage; mid-workings, workings with other workings above and below in the same mine or colliery (Gresley Coal-mining Gloss. 1883).
1896E. B. Wilson Cell 338 *Mid-body (‘Zwischenkörper’), a body or group of granules, probably comparable with the cell-plate in plants, formed in the equatorial region of the spindle during the anaphases of mitosis. 1969Brown & Bertke Textbk. Cytol. xix. 417/1 The portions of the continuous [spindle] fibers where cytokinesis is to occur, become thickened to form the mid-body, ‘stem body’ of Belar, or ‘Flemming body’ which has been seen in cytokinesis of other animals, including Hydra.
1928Sunday Express 1 July 12/6 Delighting the low-brow, the *mid-brow, and the high-brow with equal facility. 1959Manch. Guardian 10 Aug. 3/2 The dramatic policy is good average mid-brow. 1964Punch 19 Feb. 268/1 When the Midbrows are first showing signs of moving in. 1966R. A. Downie tr. O. Del Buono's Bond Affair 158 It is superficial, banal, midbrow wherever psychological analysis is attempted.
1790Wildbore in Phil. Trans. LXXX. 529 If the two great circles DOE, CQA, be continued, they will meet in a point of the *midcircle 90° from O. 1883Mid-circle [see incircle n.].
c1470Henry Wallace v. 824 Baith cannell bayne an schuldir blaid intwa, Throuch the *myd cost.
1583Invent. Roy. Wardrobe (1815) 309 With twa buttonis or *midcuppillis of gold joynit to the saidis settis. 1832More Note in Stair Instit. I. clix, Where an heir [etc.]..takes infeftment by virtue of a procuratory of resignation or precept of seisin granted in favour of his predecessor or author, it is necessary to set forth, in the instrument, the mid-couples, or writings, whereby he is connected with the said procuratory or precept.
1957Times 28 Dec. 10/1 Only the small West African *midcrops standing in the way of an absolute Brazilian control over international cocoa offerings until the gathering of the new West African main crops in the autumn. 1973Times 13 July 21/8 Henry Stephens & Sons (London) reported that whatever happened, even at best, the 1973–74 crop would be a late one and the light and mid-crops would not be sufficient to meet internal demand for local industries.
1960D. Macdonald in Partisan Rev. XXVII. 592 This intermediate form—let us call it *Midcult—has the essential qualities of Masscult—the formula, the built-in reaction, the lack of any standard except popularity—but it decently covers them with a cultural fig-leaf... Midcult has it both ways: it pretends to respect the standards of High Culture while in fact it waters them down and vulgarizes them. 1962Listener 22 Nov. 863/1 There may seem to be phases in broadcasting history when British broadcasting..has favoured what Dwight Macdonald has called ‘midcult’, something which is neither for the few nor for the many. 1966Ibid. 27 Jan. 142/2 Even Wilson he feels (though he admires him), has had to sacrifice to ‘Midcult’ values.
14..Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 739/18 Hoc auncinium, hoc imranda, hoc merarium, a *myddyner undermete.
1842Francis Dict. Arts etc., s.v. Distance, The *mid-distance. 1885Athenæum 23 May 669/1 In the mid-distance is a clump of sober-coloured and softly shadowed elms.
c1944(newspaper-title) *Mid-East Mail. 1969Daily Tel. 5 Feb. 24 (heading) Nixon decision on Mid-East ‘in few days’. 1971R. Thomas Backup Men xix. 168 A juke-box blared out some Mideast music. 1972Newsweek 31 July 28/1 There seemed to be some hope for a break in the Mideast diplomatic logjam. 1974Publishers Weekly 7 Jan. 25 (Advt.), 3 months ago this was to be a major study of the Middle East Conflict. Today it is the first major study of the Mideast including the October War.
1960J. Stroud Shorn Lamb iv. 41 Mad *Mid-Europeans camping with their chattels in the office porch. 1961Guardian 1 Apr. 4/7 The hall mark of mid-European free dance. 1974‘J. le Carré’ Tinker, Tailor xi. 89 Toby Esterhase's faithful mid-European echo.
1970J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers 7 There is still a margin between what the audiophiles term true hi-fi and general ‘domestic quality’, and here an entirely new and highly popular range of equipment is emerging. Some call this ‘*mid-fi’ equipment,..but it is noteworthy that such equipment is already rising above the basic ‘domestic quality’ and entering into the hi-fi fringes. 1971Hi-Fi Sound Feb. 64/3 Today's hi-fi will be tomorrow's mid-fi. 1975Gramophone Jan. 1389 (Advt.), Some of those ‘mid-fi’ stereo systems of a few years back have a good record player and good speakers.
1644Bulwer Chiron. 76 The *Mid-finger prest to the Palm.
1875F. M. Balfour in Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci. XV. 213 The ventral wall of the *mid-gut. 1880Huxley Crayfish ii. 66 The liver may be regarded as a much divided side-pouch of the mid-gut. 1896Kirkaldy & Pollard tr. Boas' Zool. 23 The mid-gut (mesenteron), which is usually long, and in which digestion and absorption go on.
1838W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. 644 *Mid-impediment; the Roman law medium impedimentum; is any thing which intervenes between two events, and prevents, quoad the former event, the retrospective operation of the latter. 1856Menzies Convey. iii. iii. 605 There shall be no mid-impediment.
1905Westm. Gaz. 23 Aug. 5/1 Braid, with a magnificent *mid-iron, was dead on the pin.
1640Bp. Hall Chr. Moder. ii. vi. 36 Betwixt which two some have placed a third, a *mid-knowledge of future conditionate Contingents.
c1435Torr. Portugal 1189 He wold not in passe, Till they at *myd mete was.
1588A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. i. iv, To seike yerlie hir place in ye zodiake according to hir *midde motion on ye letter day of december at noone.
1885Galton in Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1212 A mean regression from 1 in the *mid-parents to 2/3 in the offspring would indicate [etc.]. 1889― Nat. Inher. 87 The word ‘Mid-Parent’..expresses an ideal person of composite sex, whose Stature is half way between the Stature of the father and the transmuted Stature of the Mother.
1885― in Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1209 By the use of this word [‘deviate’] and that of ‘*mid-parentage’, we can define the law of regression very briefly. Ibid., The offspring of similar mid-parentages.
Ibid. 1208 The average height of the two parents, or, as I prefer to call it, the ‘*mid-parental’ height.
1583Leg. Bp. St. Androis 1058 Or ever the preiching was *midpartdone.
1535Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 505 Betuix Scotland and Ingland for till be Ane *mid persone haifand auctoritie. 1567Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 590 Mark..hes gevin and set in fewferme to his spous and bairnis be ane myd persoun, the saidis mylnis. 1609Skene Reg. Maj., Stat. David II 42 It is lesome to them to cause their campions or ane midde persone to fecht agains the defender.
1712H. Bellers in Phil. Trans. XXVII. 542 A hard grey Iron Oar, with some white spots in it, called the *Mid-row Grains.
1957R. T. Woodburne Essent. Human Anat. i. 3/2 The median plane is a vertical plane through the body reaching the surface at the mid-line in front and behind. This plane is also known as the *midsagittal plane of the body. 1967G. M. Wyburn et al. Conc. Anat. viii. 203/2 Cut the eyeball in a midsagittal plane. 1968Chomsky & Halle Sound Pattern Eng. 302 Consonantal sounds are produced with a radical obstruction in the midsagittal region of the vocal tract.
1953K. Reisz Technique Film Editing 280 *Mid-shot, shot taken with the camera nearer to the object than for a long shot but not so near as for a close-up; in relation to the human subject, a shot of the human figure approximately from the waist upwards.
1862Rambling Remarks on Golf 13 In some links, several of these clubs, such as the *mid-spoon, baffing-spoon, driving putter, and niblick may be dispensed with; but in greens such as St. Andrews, Musselburgh, Prestwich, and some others, they all come into requisition more or less. 1906Price List Golf Clubs, Bulger Mid Spoons.
14..in Rel. Ant. I. 85 The Pame sonday be-fele that yere one *Mydesonday.
1850G. Ross Leading Cases Law Scot. II. 316 His taking up the *mid-superiority of the lands sold was no obstacle.
1535Coverdale Judg. vii. 19 Aboute the time whan the *myd-watch begynneth. 1901Munsey's Mag. XXV. 344/2 Another kind of deep sea courage is known as ‘mid-watch Pluck’.
1926E. Ferber Show Boat v. 80 To the farmers and villagers of the *Midwest..the show boat meant music, romance, gaiety. 1948,1968Midwest, Mid-West [see Far West].
1889Farmer Americanisms 365/2 *Mid-Western States, W. Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas. 1906(title) The Midwestern (Des Moines, Iowa). 1923Collier's Mag. 25 Aug. 24/3 One of the economic causes of Mid-Western discontent is the feeling that the Mid-West is the object of discrimination. 1936Mind XLV. 218 After leaving Harvard, Boodin seemed for many years to be lost in the obscurity of a small mid-western college. 1972M. J. Bosse Incident at Naha ii. 93 You can never wholly shed a Midwestern background.
1927Scribner's Mag. Oct. 480/2 These *midwesterners are alike unto Americans in other rural areas. 1969I. Kemp Brit. G.I. in Vietnam iii. 47 A sun-tanned, crew-cut, athletic looking mid-Westerner from Green Bay, Wisconsin. 1971Guardian 10 July 9/1 Stolid and conservative Mid-westerners..are..concerned about the plight of the Indians, because the Indians are part of Middle West life.
1934Flight 15 Feb. 156/1 The machine is a *mid-wing cantilever monoplane with the wing in three sections. 1942R.A.F. Jrnl. 16 May 16 A twin-engine mid-wing monoplane of creditable modern design.
B. n.1 Obs. exc. dial.
1. a. The adj. used absol. = middle n. in various senses.
a1300E.E. Psalter cxxxv. 11 Þat led Irael fra mid of þa. c1330Arth. & Merl. 9765 (Kölbing) Ȝete he tok þe þridde & cleued him to þe midde. c1400Three Kings Cologne 121 (Camb. MS.) Euerych of þe ij kyngis departed a-sonder and ȝaf place to her thrid felowe, and so resceyued hym to lye in þe mydde bitwix hem boþe. a1542Wyatt Ps. li. The Author 3 Like as the pilgrim..In some fresh shade lieth down at mid of day. 1561Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 21 The urine is whyte, thick, and pale above and in the midde it is clere. 1566Painter Pal. Pleas. I. Ded. 5 Among the mid of my reioyce of those before remembred, I cannot pretermit the lamentable loss of the best approued Gonner that euer [etc.]. 1634–5Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 46 A great number of Dutchwomen, who resolved to keep their seats in the mid of the aisle. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. ii. §58 Next his skin he was a Hermite, and wore sack-cloth; in the midd he had the habit of a Monk. 16..Robin Hood newly revived iii. in Child Ballads III. 145/1 It was in the mid of the day. 1700Dryden Fables, Cinyras & Myrrha 124 'Twas now the mid of Night. 1851Cumbld. Gloss., Mid, the middle; the centre.
b. Comb.: mid-deep adv., as deep as the middle of the body.
1812J. J. Henry Camp. agst. Quebec 91 Jumping into the water middeep.
2. A lamb of medium class.
1831Sutherland Farm Rep. 80 in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III, The wedder lambs are divided into three sorts, called tups, mids, and paleys.
C. adv.
†a. In the middle. Obs.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1730 Ȝe he lad hem bi laȝ, mon, þe lorde & his meyny; On þis maner bi þe mountes, quyle myd, ouer, vnder. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 4680 To clothe the poore, wych nakyd stood Myd off the gate. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 197 It ran midde betweene the two Bishopricks.
b. Comb.
1876G. M. Hopkins Wreck of Deutschland xxxiv, in Poems (1967) 62 Mid-numberèd he in three of the thunder⁓throne! 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 23 Feb. 69/3 The Colman-Fella tedder..can be operated in conjunction with a mid-mounted mower. Ibid. 8 Mar. 75/2 There is much to be said for mid-mounting of tools that need accurate steerage.
▪ II. mid, n.2|mɪd|
Jocular shortening of midshipman. Cf. middy 1.
1797A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl (1813) III. 120 He put on the uniform of a mid. 1836Marryat Midsh. Easy xxv, When a mid is in love, he always goes aloft to think of the object of his affection. 1893Sloane-Stanley Remin. Midshipm. Life xxii. 301 On reaching the gun-room they were received by the expectant Mids with a host of questions.
▪ III. † mid, prep.1 (adv.) Obs.
Forms: 1–4 mid, myd, 1–3 mið, 3 midd. Also (before dentals and sibilants) 1–3 mit, 3 myȝt. See also mide.
[Com. Teut.; OE. mid, Northumb. mið, corresponds to OFris. mith, OS. mid (Du. met), OHG. (MHG., mod.G.) mit, ON. með (Sw., Da. med), Goth. miþ (in comb. mid-), cogn. w. Gr. µετά (see meta-) and Zend. maṭ with. The word became obsolete before the end of the 14th c.; superseded by with.
It had approximately all the modern senses of with, except that of opposition (as in to fight with), which was the prominent sense of wið in OE. In OE. mid and wið were sometimes opposed, as in the first quot. below; our ‘with the stream’ was in OE. mid stréame, while wið stréame meant ‘against the stream’.]
1. Denoting association, connexion, accompaniment, proximity, addition, conjunction, communication, intercourse.
a900O.E. Chron. an. 837 æþelhelm ealdorman ᵹefeaht wið þa Deniscan on Port mid Dorsætum. c950Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xiii. 1 Ðara vel hiora blod [pilatus] ᵹemengde mið asæᵹdnisum hiora. c1175Lamb. Hom. 77 Hu scal þat bon soþþen na Mon mine likame irineð ne mid me flesliche hefde to donne. a1200Moral Ode 142 Betere is wori water drunch þen atter meind mid wine. a1225Ancr. R. 248 God Almihti..alihte adun to helle uorto sechen feolawes, & delen mid ham þet god þet he hefde. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5859 Ac let me speke mid my broþer vor me longeþ him to se. a1300K. Horn (Camb. MS.) 666 ‘Kyng’, he sede, ‘wel þu sitte, And alle þine kniȝtes mitte’. c1315Shoreham v. 214 Dominus tecum..(þat hys to seggene ‘god es myȝtte’). c1330Arth. & Merl. 1468 (Kölbing), The king was wondred of þis cas & al, that euer mid him was. c1350Will. Palerne 3133 And þat menskful maide þat þere myd þe lies. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. iv. 77 Wisdome and witte..toke Mede myd hem mercy to winne. 1393Ibid. C. xvii. 182 And so is man þat haþ hus mynde myd liberum arbitrium.
b. In the same direction as (a stream, a wind).
709Grant in Birch Cartul. Sax. I. 183 Onlong broces midstreame. c1205Lay. 13792 Þreo scipen gode comen mid þan flode. 1340Ayenb. 180 Þeruore hi byeþ ase þe wedercoc þat is ope þe steple þat him went mid eche wynde.
c. In agreement with, following the action of; analogously to, like.
c961æthelwold Rule St. Benet vii b. (1885) 29 And þus mittan witeᵹan clypiᵹe: ‘To nahte ic wæs ᵹehworfen, and ic hit nyste’. a1225Ancr. R. 264 Mid te gode Iosaphat, sendeð beoden uor sondesmon anon efter sukurs to þe Prince of heouene. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 75 Drynke but myd [A. v. 58 with] þe doke and dyne but ones.
2. Indicating an accompanying circumstance, condition, action, disposition of mind. With a noun expressing feeling or attitude of mind it often forms a combination equivalent to an adverb.
a900tr. Bæda's Hist. i. vii. (1890) 36 Mid his sylfes willan. c1000ælfric Josh. vi. 25 And hiᵹ siððan leofodon mid sibbe betwux him. c1175Lamb. Hom. 3 Heo urnen on-ȝein him al þa hebreisce men mid godere heorte and summe mid ufele þeonke. c1205Lay. 10782 Þat þu mid griðe me leten uaren forð toward Rome. a1225Ancr. R. 32 Þeonne ualleð adun mid þeos gretunge. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2932 Hii come & mette hom baldeliche mid god ernest ynou. a1300Vox & Wolf 148 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 63 Mid thilke wordes the volf lou. c1300Beket 451 The kyng aros mid [earlier version in] wraththe ynouȝ. c1315Shoreham v. 331 Þanne ich dar segge mid gode ryȝte þat [etc.].
b. = Having (an attribute or quality).
c1220Bestiary 444 Ðe deuel is tus ðe fox ilik mið iuele breides and wið swik. Ibid. 736 Panter..is blac so bro of qual, mið wite spottes sapen al. a1225Leg. Kath. 1430 Ah mit se swiðe lufsume leores ha leien [etc.].
3. Indicating (a) the means or instrument; (b) the instrumentality or cause.
a900tr. Bæda's Hist. i. xvi [xxvii] (1890) 74 To ðon þætte..untrume mid þinre trymenisse syn ᵹestrongade, & unrehte mid þinre aldorlicnesse seon ᵹerehte. a1000Cædmon's Gen. 251 (Gr.) Forþon he heom ᵹewit forᵹeaf & mid his handum ᵹesceop haliᵹ drihten. c1175Lamb. Hom. 25 He seið mið þa muðe, þet nis naut in his heorte. Ibid. 87 Þet heo sculden..merki mid þan blode hore duren. c1205Lay. 23572 And no lete noht þat wræcche uolk uor-faren al mid hungre. c1220Bestiary 578 And to late waken, ðe sipes sinken mitte suk, ne cumen he nummor up. a1225St. Marher. 4 Al þat biset is mit see ant mit sunne, buuen ba ant bineoðen. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 835 Cloþeþ him mid þe beste cloþ þat ȝe mowe bise. Ibid. 11865 He was al so sik mid goute & oþer wo. 1340Ayenb. 44 Ase doþ þise tavernyers þet uelleþ þe mesure myd scome.
4. With regard to; in respect of; touching.
a1000Cædmon's Gen. 2253 (Gr.) Þæs sie ælmihtiᵹ drihtna drihten dema mid unc twih. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 47 Wich þeau wes on þe olde laȝe mid wimmen. c1205Lay. 17808 Lauerd hu mid þe? a1225Juliana 10 To wurchen þi wil & al þat te wel likeð as mit tin ahne. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 190/24 ‘Louerd’, seide Saule þo, ‘ȝwat woltþov do mid me?’ 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 833 Alas quaþ þe quene þo, is it nou mid him so?
5. In the sight, estimation, or opinion of.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. vi. 1 Mearde nabbas ᵹe mið fader iurre seðe in heafnas is. c1000ælfric Saints' Lives iii. 498 Þæt he him ᵹeswutelode hwylc basilius wære on wurð⁓scype mid him. c1205Lay. 12638 Þæt wes holi man..& mid godde swiðe hæh. 1340Ayenb. 182 Vor him þingþ þet he is a wel guod man and wel mid gode.
6. In the possession or power of.
a1000Ags. Ps. cxxix. [cxxx.] 4 Ys seo mildheortnes mid þe [Vulg. apud te.] c1320Cast. Love 399 Þer beþ rihte domes mitte [= mid þe], Alle þine werkes beþ ful of witte. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 167 Al þe myȝ te myd hym is in makyng of þynges.
7. In adverbial phrases. (See also mididone.)
a. mid alle (in OE. mid ealle, eallum): altogether; entirely;..and all; at the same time, withal.
a900O.E. Chron. an. 893 Swa þæt hie asettan him on anne siþ ofer mid horsum mid ealle. c1000Ags. Leg. St. Andrew & St. Veronica (Camb. Antiq. Soc.) 38 Hyne myd scryne myd eallum on feastum cwearterne beclysdon. c1000ælfric Gram. xxxviii. (Z.) 239 Stirpitus grundlunga oððe mid stybbe mid ealle..radicitus grundlunga oððe mid wyrttruman mid ealle. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 51 He gede⁓rede michel ferde mid alle and sende in to ierusalem. a1225Juliana 15 Ich chulle þat he wite hit ful wel & tu eke mid al. a1250Owl & Night. 666 Her to heo moste answere vynde Oþer mid alle beon bihinde. c1305St. Cristopher 172 in E.E.P. (1862) 64 And tuo faire wymmen mid alle seint Cristofre he broȝte.
b. mid the best, mid the most: as good, as great as possible. So mid the first, as soon as possible.
c1205Lay. 9801 Alle dæi þer ilæste fæht mid þan mæste. Ibid. 9806 Þær wes hærm mid þon meste bi-uoren Ex⁓chæstre. a1300K. Horn. 1073 Aþulf, mi gode felaȝe, God kniȝt mid [Laud MS. wyt] þe beste, And þe treweste. Ibid. 1199 (Laud MS.) Schenk hus Myd þe furste.
c. mid childe: with child (see child n. 17).
c750Laws of Abp. Egbert c. 28 (title) in Thorpe Laws II. 130 Wif ðonne heo mid cylde biþ. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 21 Þe holie gast wile cumen uppen þe, and godes mihte make ðe mid childe. Ibid., And þus bicam ure lafdi Sainte Marie mid childe. c1205Lay. 13869 Þa wif fareð mid childe. 1340Ayenb. 82 Þe wyfman grat myd childe.
d. mid iwisse: see i-wis n.
c1275Sinners Beware 32 in O.E. Misc. 73 Þat is in heouene blysse; Heo cumeþ þer myd iwisse, þat luuyeþ godes love. c1325Spec. Gy Warw. 689 He shal haue comfort and solaz Off þe holi gost..Þat wole..make men haue, mid iwisse, Tristi hope to heuene blisse.
8. Placed after the word that it governs.
Beowulf 41 Him on bearme læᵹ madma mæniᵹo, þa him mid scoldon on flodes æht feor ᵹewitan. c1205Lay. 732 Cnihtes fuseð me mid [c 1275 mid me]. a1240Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 245 For ðan þe se helende under-feng þa sin⁓fullan and ham mid imone hafede. a1300Cursor M. 21590 Þe feurth to ber hir-self mid to constantinopil.
9. absol. or as adv. With the person or thing specified; together.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xiv. 15 Sume of ðæm mið vel ᵹelic hlinᵹendum [L. quidam de simul discumbentibus]. c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 158 Wið slæpleaste ᵹenym þysse ylcan wyrte wos, smyre þone man mid. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 115 Swo us longe to him alse diden hise apostles and teo hus to him alse he hem dide and understonde mid on his riche. a1250Owl & Night. 136 Theȝ appel trendli from thon trowe, Thar he and other mid growe. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 15314 Ther him hid With twenti armed knyȝtes myd That were hardy & wondir strong.
▪ IV. mid, 'mid, prep.2|mɪd|
Poetical aphesis of amid.
1808Scott Marm. i. xxiii, Mid thunder dint and flashing levin. 1853M. Arnold Scholar-Gipsy vii, But 'mid their drink and clatter he would fly. 1870Morris Earthly Par., Man born to be King 23 Mid the faces so well known Of men he well might call his own He saw a little wizened man.
▪ V. mid
dial. pronunciation of might, pa. tense of may.
1789C. Smith Ethelinde (1814) III. 70 To have a little item of where I mid look for her frinds. 1796― Marchmont I. 235, I thought perhaps it middent be too late. 1891T. Hardy Tess i. iii, You mid last ten years; you mid go off in ten months, or ten days. |