amid

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈmɪd/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English amidde, inherited from Old English on middan (“in the middle”),^[2][3][4][5] from on and middan, the dative singular of midde (“middle”) (see mid),^[3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *medhyo- (“middle”).^[3] Barnhart suggests it was formed on the analogy of Latin in mediō.^[2] amidde was later extended to amiddes, which became amidst with an added t.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adverb, in the middle, in the midst: before 1000 in the OED;^[6] as a preposition, in the middle of, about 975.^[6] The Old English phrase is already in Beowulf, about 725, and Middle English amidde is probably before 1200, in Layamon.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Because the phrase was felt as “in the middle”, it was at first followed by a genitive, which in modern English would have been of.^[3][6] The sense “in the middle of” is now only poetic,^[6] and “between two things” (about 1230) is obsolete.^[6] Surrounded by a place or substance is from 1340, among objects from about 1230,^[6] in the midst of a state or condition from 1513, and amid actions or events from 1719.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 975 – in the middle of.^[6]
• before 1000 – in the middle (adverb).^[6]
• probably before 1200 – amidde.^[2]
• c. 1230 – among objects.^[6]
• 1513 – amid a condition.^[6]
• 1719 – amid events.^[6]

Modern meaning

Preposition

1. Surrounded by; in the middle of.
2. Among.
3. During, in an atmosphere of: amid growing concerns.

Word family

• amidships

Related words

• amidst
• mid
• middle
• midst

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press