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• mid
  mid

  adjective

  being at or near the middle point of.
• mid-
  mid-

  a combining form representing mid1 in compound words.
• mid.
  mid.

  abbreviation

  middle.
• Mid.
  Mid.

  abbreviation

  Midshipman.
• M.I.D.
  M.I.D.

  abbreviation

  Master of Industrial Design.

mid

¹ American  

[mid] / mɪd /

adjective

1. being at or near the middle point of.

   We visited in mid autumn to catch the leaves at their best.

   The group was active in the mid 1890s.

2. being or occupying a middle place or position.

   These socks hit at the mid calf, making them good for wearing with boots.

   The bark mid trunk has been eaten away by insects.

3. Phonetics. (of a vowel) articulated with an opening above the tongue relatively intermediate between those for high and low: the vowels of beet, bet, and bot are respectively high, mid, and low.

4. Slang. mediocre, unimpressive, or disappointing.

   Everyone thinks that show is so great, but I've always thought it was mid.

   The shoes are really mid but the shirt is cute.

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noun

1. Archaic. the middle.

mid ² American  

[mid] / mɪd /

Or 'mid

preposition

1. amid.

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mid ³ American  

[mid] / mɪd /

noun

Informal.

1. a midshipman.

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mid- ⁴ American  

1. a combining form representing mid1 in compound words.

   midday; mid-Victorian.

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mid. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. middle.

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Mid. ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. Midshipman.

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M.I.D. ⁷ American  

abbreviation

1. Master of Industrial Design.

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mid ¹ British  

/ mɪd /

adjective

1. phonetics of, relating to, or denoting a vowel whose articulation lies approximately halfway between high and low, such as e in English bet

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noun

1. an archaic word for middle

Mid. ² British  

abbreviation

1. Midshipman

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mid ³ British  

/ mɪd /

preposition

1. a poetic word for amid

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mid. ⁴ British  

abbreviation

1. middle

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mid- ⁵ British  

combining form

1. indicating a middle part, point, time, or position

   midday

   mid-April

   mid-Victorian

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Etymology

Origin of mid¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English midd- (both an adjective and the initial element of a compound; modern spellings such as mid autumn are probably a reanalysis of the combining form mid- as an adjective); cognate with Old High German mitti, Old Norse mithr, Gothic midjis; akin to Greek mésos, méssos, méttos, Latin medius, Old Church Slavonic mežda “limit, border,” Old Irish mide, Sanskrit madhya “middle”; see also mid-

Origin of mid³

By shortening

Origin of mid-⁴

Middle English, Old English; see mid ¹

Example Sentences

The study examined more than 200 years of global population data and identified a major turning point in human population trends that began during the mid twentieth century.

From Science Daily • May 27, 2026

In my mid 60s, I found myself divorced and on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026

Western Northern Ireland could also see the warmth approaching the mid 20s.

From BBC • May 22, 2026

It was the mid 1990s and London’s Great Osmond Street Hospital was losing a troubling number of young cardiac patients following complex heart surgery.

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026

Underneath the picture I wrote: I’d love a family rich or mid as long as they want a loving kid.

From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter

Related Words

• average
• boring
• dull
• mediocre
• middling