Etymologically
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midi

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 13:31. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mi.di/[1]

Forms

midi m (plural midis)[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of Old French mi (“middle”) (see mi-), from Latin medius (“middle”),[2] and Old French di (“day”) (842, in the Strasbourg Oaths), from diēs (“day”) through its accusative.[3][4][5][6][7] That word survives in the names of the days of the week.[3] Most southern dialects, south of a line from the Gironde estuary to French Switzerland, say ⟨mijour⟩.[2]

Compare Old Occitan miegdia, Spanish mediodía, Portuguese meio-dia and Italian mezzodì.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) uses it for the middle of the day: Contre midi tenebres i a granz (“towards noon there is great darkness”).[6][8]

Semantic evolution

Very early it took a spatial sense: the south, as one of the cardinal points (Gaimar, about 1140), and a southern exposure (1308).[6][3] Classical French used it for the southern countries (La Fontaine, 1687); since 1793 (Madame de Staël) le Midi has been the South of France, as in l'accent du Midi.[6][3]

Chercher midi à quatorze heures “to make things needlessly complicated” (Tabarin, 1622, Madame de Sévigné, 1675) was preceded by cercher midy à unze heures (1585).[6][3][9] Démon du midi (1585) rendered Latin daemonium meridianum, the temptation of midday; it took its modern sense, the amorous temptation of middle age, in 1863.[6][3] The slang Midi ! “too late!” and il est midi “watch out!” date from 1866–1867.[6][3] après-midi is recorded in 1514 or 1549.[2][3]

Timeline

  • 842 – Di “day” in the Strasbourg Oaths.[3]
  • c. 1100 – Midi in the Chanson de Roland.[6]
  • c. 1140 – “South”, in Gaimar.[6]
  • 1308 – A southern exposure.[6]
  • 1514 – Après-midi.[2]
  • 1585 – Démon du midi, cercher midy à unze heures.[6]
  • 1622 – Chercher midi à quatorze heures.[6]
  • 1793 – Le Midi “the South of France”.[6]
  • 1863 – Démon de midi in its modern sense.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Noon, twelve o'clock: Il est midi, midi sonné.[10][1]
  2. The middle of the day, midday: le repas de midi, en plein midi.[10][5]
  3. The south: exposé au midi, facing south.[1][6]
  4. Le Midi: the South of France.[1][3]
  5. Le démon de midi: the urge for amorous adventure in middle age.[10][3]
  6. Chercher midi à quatorze heures: to complicate matters needlessly.[3][1]

Word family

  • après-midi

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 72a
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert