noun · prep · 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
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/mɪdst/
[mɪdst]
[mɪtst]
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɪdst
CMU ARPABET:M IH1 D S T
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:M IH1 S T
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A place in the middle of something; may be used of a literal or metaphorical location.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: literary, often
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
prep
Meaning 2
Among, in the middle of; amidst.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: rare
Examples
Mildred comes home from work early only to discover her husband, Robert, midst of a lewd affair with their neighbor, Gladys.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
the location of something surrounded by other things
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
in the midst of the crowd
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: thick
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: inside, interior
History
Etymology
From Middle English middes, midst, myddest (“middle”), from Old English midde, reshaped in Middle English phrases like in middes (“in the middle”) by analogy with adverbs in -(e)s; also compare Old English on middan, tōmiddes. Forms in -(e)st are probably due to influence of superlatives.
Across languages
Translations
25 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Armenian:
մեջտեղ
(meǰteġ)
— place in the middle of something
Bulgarian:
среда
(sreda)
— place in the middle of something
Egyptian:
q-A-b-F46:Y1
(qꜣb)
— place in the middle of something
Finnish:
keskus
— place in the middle of something
Finnish:
keskusta
— place in the middle of something
Finnish:
sisin
— place in the middle of something
Finnish:
ydin
— place in the middle of something
French:
centre
— place in the middle of something
French:
milieu
— place in the middle of something
German:
Mitten
— place in the middle of something
German:
Mitte
— place in the middle of something
Gothic:
𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌿𐌼𐌰
(miduma)
— place in the middle of something
Russian:
середина
(seredina)
— place in the middle of something
Sicilian:
menzu
— place in the middle of something
Sicilian:
centru
— place in the middle of something
Ottoman Turkish:
مركز
(merkez)
— place in the middle of something
Ukrainian:
сере́дина
(serédyna)
— place in the middle of something
Arabic:
فِي مُنْتَصَف
(fī muntaṣaf)
— in the middle of
