in medias res
[ in -me-di-ahs -res; English in -mee-dee-uhs -reez, in -mey-dee-ahs -reys ]
/ ɪn ˈmɛ dɪˌɑs ˈrɛs; English ɪn ˈmi diˌəs ˈriz, ɪn ˈmeɪ diˌɑs ˈreɪs /
adverb Latin.
in the middle of things.
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Words nearby in medias res
in love, in luck, inly, inlying, inmate, in medias res, in mem., in memoriam, in memory of, inmesh, in-migrant
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
British Dictionary definitions for in medias res
in medias res
/ Latin (ɪn ˈmiːdɪˌæs ˈreɪs) /
in or into the middle of events or a narrative
Word Origin for in medias res
literally: into the midst of things, taken from a passage in Horace's Ars Poetica
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for in medias res
in medias res
[ (in may-dee-uhs, mee-dee-uhs rays) ]
In the middle of the action. Epics often begin in medias res. For example, the Odyssey, which tells the story of the wanderings of the hero Odysseus, begins almost at the end of his wanderings, just before his arrival home. In medias res is a Latin phrase used by the poet Horace; it means “in the middle of things.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.