Middle East

American  

[mid-l eest] / ˈmɪd l ˈist /

noun

1. Also called Mideast.  (loosely) the area from Libya east to Afghanistan, usually including Egypt, Sudan, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the other countries of Arabia.

2. (formerly) the area including Iran, Afghanistan, India, Tibet, and Myanmar (Burma).

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Middle East British  

noun

1. (loosely) the area around the E Mediterranean, esp Israel and the Arab countries from Turkey to North Africa and eastwards to Iran

2. (formerly) the area extending from the Tigris and Euphrates to Myanmar

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Middle East Cultural  

1. Region in western Asia and northeast Africa that includes the nations on the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt (see also Egypt), Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey.

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Discover More

As the site of such ancient civilizations as Phoenicia, Babylon (see also Babylon), and Egypt, and the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the Middle East is known as the cradle of Western civilization. The Greek Empire, Roman Empire, Persian Empire, and Ottoman Empire are among the great civilizations that developed and prospered in the Middle East.

A hotbed of religious and political strife (see Arab-Israeli conflict and Persian Gulf War), the Middle East attracted the attention of such powerful nations as Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union eager to protect their strategic interests at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and their access to precious oil reserves.

Other Word Forms

• Middle Easterner
  noun
• Middle Eastern
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Middle East

First recorded in 1875–80

Compare meaning

How does middle-east compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Near East vs. Middle East

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Middle East

Economic forecasts for the coming months continue to be grim as fighting in the Middle East intensifies.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

The International Energy Agency recently pushed its timeline for normalized Middle East energy flows into 2027 from late 2026 previously.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

Turkey has the largest economy of any Middle East nation and is a member of the G-20 and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Japan is particularly vulnerable to those supply interruptions as it is heavily reliant on energy from the Middle East.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

People sometimes told Joseph his own accent was hard to place, since it was partly English and partly American, and had hints of the other places he’d lived, like Switzerland and the Middle East.

From "The Marvels" by Brian Selznick