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mediaeval

[mee-dee-ee-vuh l, med-ee-, mid-ee-, mid-ee-vuh l]
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adjective
  1. medieval.
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Related formsan·ti·me·di·ae·val, adjectivean·ti·me·di·ae·val·ly, adverbpost·me·di·ae·val, adjectivepseu·do·me·di·ae·val, adjectivequa·si-me·di·ae·val, adjectiveun·me·di·ae·val, adjective

medieval

or me·di·ae·val

[mee-dee-ee-vuh l, med-ee-, mid-ee-, mid-ee-vuh l]
adjective
  1. of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or in the style of the Middle Ages: medieval architecture.Compare Middle Ages.
  2. Informal. extremely old-fashioned; primitive.
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Origin of medieval

1820–30; < New Latin medi(um) aev(um) the middle age + -al1. See medium, age
Related formsme·di·e·val·ly, adverban·ti·me·di·e·val, adjectivean·ti·me·di·e·val·ly, adverbpost·me·di·e·val, adjectivepseu·do·me·di·e·val, adjectivepseu·do·me·di·e·val·ly, adverbqua·si-me·di·e·val, adjectiveun·me·di·e·val, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mediaeval

Historical Examples

  • It is odd how one gets callous to death, a mediaeval callousness.

    Ballads of a Bohemian

    Robert W. Service

  • Henceforth all the mediaeval chalices were fashioned with a six-sided foot.

    English Villages

    P. H. Ditchfield

  • What is meant by the "Middle Ages" or the "Mediaeval" period?

    Introductory American History

    Henry Eldridge Bourne

  • Flowers, tears, applause—that has had its time; it's a mediaeval conception.

    Under Western Eyes

    Joseph Conrad

  • It is neither Asiatic nor mediaeval in its essential character.

British Dictionary definitions for mediaeval

mediaeval

adjective
  1. a variant spelling of medieval
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medieval

mediaeval

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or in the style of the Middle Ages
  2. informal old-fashioned; primitive
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Derived Formsmedievally or mediaevally, adverb

Word Origin

C19: from New Latin medium aevum the middle age. See medium, age
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

Word Origin and History for mediaeval

see medieval.

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medieval

adj.

1827, "pertaining to or suggestive of the Middle Ages," coined in English from Latin medium "the middle" (see medium (n.)) + aevum "age" (see eon).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
mediaeval in Culture

medieval

A descriptive term for people, objects, events, and institutions of the Middle Ages.

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Note

“Medieval” is sometimes used as a term of disapproval for outdated ideas and customs. It may suggest inhuman practices, such as torture of prisoners. (See Inquisition.)
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.