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midst

Etymology and origin of the English word midst

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
before 1325
From
Middle English middest

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mɪdst/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English middest, an alteration of middes,[2][3] formed from mid and the adverbial genitive -s,[4][5] evolved from the phrases in middes and on middes;[2][6] Merriam-Webster and Collins treat middes as a back-formation from amiddes (see amid).[3][7] The unetymological -t, added in the 15th century, is perhaps after superlatives in -st and -est, as in amongst and against,[4][5] or was added for ease of pronunciation, as in betwixt.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The middle, the centre: middes before 1325, in Cursor Mundi, in Barnhart;[4] midst about 1400 in Etymonline, and in the OED from 1400–50.[5][8]

Semantic evolution

Being in the interior of, enveloped or surrounded by something, as in the phrase in the midst of the storm, is from before 1500.[8] With a possessive, in our midst, among us, is from about 1586.[8] Milton used midst as an adverb, in the middle place, in 1667.[8][4] The plain sense, the centre, is now archaic.[8][7]

Timeline

  • before 1325 – middes.[4]
  • c. 1400 – midst, the middle.[5][8]
  • ?before 1500 – in the midst of.[8]
  • c. 1586 – in our midst.[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. In the midst of: surrounded or enveloped by; during, especially at a critical point.
  2. In our (or their) midst: among us (or them).
  3. (archaic) The middle or centre.

Preposition

  1. (poetic) Among; amid.

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Midst.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/midst. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·