medieval English · revision 10293

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1825|origins=la medium|origins=la aevum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌmɛd.iˈiː.vəl/, /ˌmiː.diˈiː.vəl/ ''(UK)''; /mɪdˈi.vəl/, /ˌmɛˈdi.vəl/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an English coinage, first spelled mediaeval, from Latin medium, middle, and aevum, age, with the suffix [[-al]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) after New Latin medium aevum, the Middle Ages,^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998)^(Cresswell 2021) a learned phrase developed from the much earlier English the Middle Ages (early 17th century).^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of or belonging to the Middle Ages: 1825 in Etymonline, 1827 in Barnhart.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Barnhart describes the Middle Ages as the period between classical Greece and Rome and the European Enlightenment, a subjective term reflecting the point of view of 19th-century Europe.^(Barnhart 1988) The informal sense, old-fashioned or primitive, is later.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) Merriam-Webster gives 1856 as the first known use of the noun.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * early 17th century – the Middle Ages.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1825 – mediaeval.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1827 – in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of, relating to or in the style of the [[Middle Ages]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' Old-fashioned, primitive or unenlightened.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[medievally]]

+ * [[antimedieval]]

+ * [[postmedieval]]

+ * [[premedieval]]

+ * [[pseudomedieval]]

+ * [[unmedieval]]

+ * [[medievalism]]

+ * [[medievalist]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[middle]]

+ * [[medium]]

+ * [[age]]

+ * [[coeval]]

+ * [[primeval]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The spelling mediaeval is now chiefly British.^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}