midpointn.
/ˈmɪdpɔɪnt/, U.S. /ˈmɪdˌpɔɪnt/ A point in the middle, or the halfway point, place, etc., of a line, area, or object, a period of time, a numerical range, etc.; (occasionally also) the halfway point between two locations, events, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > central condition or position > [noun] > central line, plane, or point
midpointc1450
centreline1590
plane of symmetry1823
c1450 ( G. Chaucer Bk. Duchess 660 Therwith Fortune seyde ‘Chek her!’ And ‘Mat!’ in myd poynt of the chekker.
1625 W. Lisle tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Noe in tr. Part of Du Bartas 132 They morter to the sea the mid-point of the ground.
1652 E. Benlowes Theophila xiii. cxii. 250 Death's one long Sleep..The landing Shore. Mid point betwixt the Lives of Losse, and Gain; The Path to boundlesse Joy, or Pain.
1823 ‘B. Cornwall’ Flood of Thessaly i. 36 He, glancing at the sky, just where the North Is cut by the eastern light at early dawn, (The mid-point of the compass) bade her gaze.
1856 N. Hawthorne Jrnl. 17 June in Eng. Notebks. (1997) II. iv. 53 The dreary mid-point of the..plain.
1938 A. E. Clayton Performance & Design Direct Current Machines (ed. 2) x. 207 Connecting one end of the field winding to the mid point of the regulator.
1973 C. A. Wilson Food & Drink in Brit. ii. 42 One pie that was made to mark the midpoint of Lent had a filling of figs, raisins, apples and pears.
1998 A. Motion Sel. Poems 128 Having you suspended all these years at some clear mid-point between life and death has made me think you might have felt your way along the link between the two.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1450