midd

Forms

midd (superlative midmest or midemest)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *midi, from Proto-Germanic *midjaz (“middle”).^[1][2] The adjective is found in Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌹𐍃 (midjis), Old Norse miðr, Old Frisian midde, Old Saxon middi and Old High German mitti.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary takes the Proto-Germanic form from earlier *medjaz, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“middle”).^[1] Holthausen and Köbler compare Latin medius and Old Irish mide (“middle”).^[3][5]

The ⟨i⟩ goes back to the Germanic change of /e/ to /i/ before /j/, which Hogg illustrates with this word beside the Latin form.^[6] The ⟨dd⟩ is the West Germanic doubling of a consonant before /j/: the oblique stem *midja- became *middja- and then the Old English form.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record is the Vespasian Psalter gloss of the mid-ninth century: at Psalm 36:6 swe on midne deg renders “sicut meridie”, “as at midday”, and at Psalm 67:14 betwih midde ðreatas renders “inter medios cleros”.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

The adjective is used of place, on midre ðǣre sǣ “in the middle of the sea”, and of time, especially in the names of feasts and seasons: midne winter “midwinter, Christmas”, midne sumor “midsummer”, middre nihte “midnight”.^[9][10] The Pastoral Care has þurh midde ða ceastre “through the middle of the camp”.^[9][8] Its superlative midmest names the middle finger and the middle way.^[9] Toller's Supplement also records a neuter noun “the middle”.^[11]

The word lived on as Middle English mid, now English mid, which Etymonline says was felt as a prefix by late Middle English and now survives only as one.^[12][13]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – swe on midne deg “as at midday” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[7][8]
• 890×897 – on midre sæ “in the middle of the sea” in the Pastoral Care.^[14][8]
• s. ix/x – ofer midne winter “after midwinter” in the Parker Chronicle.^[15][8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. middle, mid, of place.^[9][5]
2. mid, of time, in feast and season names.^[9][10]

Noun

1. the middle, midst.^[11]

Word family

• middæġ
• midniht
• midwinter
• midsumor
• middeweard
• middel

Descendants

• Middle English mid (→ English mid)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 51
3. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 221
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. midd
6. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 3.6
7. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 329
8. ^ a b c d e Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
9. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 685
10. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 146
11. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 638
12. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
13. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
14. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
15. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 83