Phrase guide

middle school

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • mĭdl sko͞ol
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A school which crosses the traditional divide between primary school and secondary school.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Topics: education

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An educational level or stage between primary school and secondary school.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: education

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a school for students intermediate between elementary school and college; usually grades 9 to 12

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: secondary school, lyceum, lycee, Gymnasium

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: school

Narrower terms: academy, trade school, vocational school, senior high school, senior high, high, highschool, high school, junior high school, junior high, preparatory school, prep school, public school, grammar school, secondary modern school, comprehensive school, composite school

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Southern Altai: орто школ (orto škol) — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Armenian: միջնակարգ դպրոց (miǰnakarg dprocʻ) — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Bulgarian: прогимназия (progimnazija) — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Chinese Mandarin: 初級中學 /初级中学 (chūjí zhōngxué) — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Chinese Mandarin: 中學 /中学 (zhōngxué) — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Dutch: middenschool — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Finnish: keskikoulu — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • French: cycle — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • German: Mittelstufe — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Greek: γυμνάσιο (gymnásio) — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Hausa: midìl — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Icelandic: miðskóli — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Indonesian: sekolah satu atap — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Irish: scoil mheánach — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Italian: scuola media — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Japanese: 中学校 (chūgakkō) — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Kazakh: орта мектеп (orta mektep) — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Khmer: សាលាមជ្ឈិម (sala machim) — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Korean: 중학교 (junghakgyo) — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Luxembourgish: Mëttelschoul — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Macedonian: средно училиште (sredno učilište) — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Romanian: școală medie — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Russian: сре́дняя шко́ла (srédnjaja škóla) — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Spanish: escuela media — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Swedish: mellanstadie — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Thai: มัธยมต้น (máttáyommá dtôn) — school containing both primary and secondary students
  • Yiddish: מיטלשול (mitlshul) — school containing both primary and secondary students