Middle English
the English language of the period c1150–c1475. Abbreviations: ME, M.E.
Compare Meanings
Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.
Origin of Middle English
1Words Nearby Middle English
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use Middle English in a sentence
Their flight had nothing to do with who I really was—an über-nerd with a taste for Middle English and Old French.
Punk: Chaos to Couture at the Costume Institute Shows How Derivative the Style Has Become | Blake Gopnik | May 6, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTWe can see this taking place, to a limited extent, in the transcripts of Middle English poems.
Beowulf | R. W. ChambersAt the very beginning of the history of Middle English literature Orm attacked the problem of the verse translation very directly.
Early Theories of Translation | Flora Ross AmosOf explicit comment on general principles, then, there is but a small amount in connection with Middle English translations.
Early Theories of Translation | Flora Ross AmosIn the same way the word high had in Middle English the superlative hexte.
An English Grammar | W. M. Baskervill and J. W. Sewell
In Middle English the became an article, and that remained a demonstrative adjective.
An English Grammar | W. M. Baskervill and J. W. Sewell
British Dictionary definitions for Middle English
the English language from about 1100 to about 1450: main dialects are Kentish, Southwestern (West Saxon), East Midland (which replaced West Saxon as the chief literary form and developed into Modern English), West Midland, and Northern (from which the Scots of Lowland Scotland and other modern dialects developed): Abbreviation: ME Compare Old English, Modern English
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 Middle English
The English language from about 1150 to about 1500. During this time, following the Norman Conquest of England, the native language of England — Old English — borrowed great numbers of words from the Norman French of the conquerors. Middle English eventually developed into modern English.
Notes for Middle English
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.
Browse