midsummer

[mid-suhm-er, -suhm-]

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noun

the middle of summer.

the summer solstice, around June 21.

Origin of midsummer

before 900; Middle English, Old English midsumer. See mid¹, summer¹

Related formsmid·sum·mer·y, adjectivepre·mid·sum·mer, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for midsummer

vacation, summertime, heat

Examples from the Web for midsummer

Contemporary Examples of midsummer

Around them, Kansas City glowed in the midsummer dusk; ahead of them glimmered the future.
Those Kansas City Blues: A Family History
Katie Baker
October 24, 2014
The midnight sun makes the crime low and the people cheerful from midsummer until the first days of autumn.
The Ugly Side of Sweden
Janine di Giovanni
July 17, 2013
Midsummer's Day is an appropriately Game of Thrones-ish date for a birthday, and Prince William turns 31 today.
Prince William Turns 31 Today
Tom Sykes
June 21, 2013

Historical Examples of midsummer

The passage was a fine one, as we doubled the Horn at midsummer.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
The glory of midsummer mid-day upon mountain, lake, and ruin.
A Dish Of Orts
George MacDonald
The judges had been directed to look again into the matter at the midsummer assizes.
Bunyan
James Anthony Froude
This explained to the jury why in midsummer he wore a frock coat.
Chit-Chat; Nirvana; The Searchlight
Mathew Joseph Holt
This fruit may be kept for several months, if gathered of a middling size at midsummer, and treated in the following manner.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton

British Dictionary definitions for midsummer

midsummer

noun

the middle or height of the summer
(as modifier)a midsummer carnival

another name for summer solstice

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 midsummer

Old English midsumor, from mid + sumor "summer" (see summer (n.1)). Midsummer Day, as an English quarter-day, was June 24. Astronomically June 21, but traditionally reckoned in Europe on the night of June 23-24.