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midwinter

[noun mid-win-ter, -win-; adjective mid-win-ter]
noun
  1. the middle of winter.
  2. the winter solstice, around December 22.
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adjective
  1. of, relating to, or occurring in the middle of the winter.
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Origin of midwinter

before 1150; Middle English, Old English; see mid1, winter
Related formsmid·win·try, mid·win·ter·ly, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for midwinter

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Downstairs, Christine and Palmer had entered on the round of midwinter gayeties.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • It was hard for an inn-keeper to be cheerful in midwinter with an empty house.

  • The air was clear, the sky blue as if it were spring-time, instead of midwinter.

  • At midwinter I had occasion to visit Evansport and Acquia creek.

  • The time was the month of January, 1892; he was alone, in hospital, in the gloom of midwinter.

British Dictionary definitions for midwinter

midwinter

noun
    1. the middle or depth of the winter
    2. (as modifier)a midwinter festival
  2. another name for winter solstice
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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 midwinter

n.

also mid-winter, Old English midwinter, also midde winter; see mid + winter (n.). The middle of winter, especially the period around the winter solstice (Dec. 21). As an adjective from mid-12c.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper