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I studied English literature in the honors program, which means that you had to take courses in various centuries. You had to start with Old English, Middle English, and work your way toward the modern. I figured if I did that it would force me to read some of the things I might not read on my own.
Jeffrey Eugenides

Meaning of "Middle English" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

PRONUNCIATION OF MIDDLE ENGLISH

Middle English play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF MIDDLE ENGLISH

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Middle English is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES MIDDLE ENGLISH MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Middle English

Middle English describes dialects of English in the history of the English language between the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the three centuries between the late 12th and the late 15th century. Middle English developed out of Late Old English in Norman England and was spoken throughout the Plantagenet era. The Middle English period ended about 1470, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the introduction of the printing press to England by William Caxton in the late 1470s. By that time the variant of the Northumbrian dialect spoken in southeast Scotland was developing into the Scots language. The language of England as used after 1470 and up to 1650 is known as Early Modern English. Unlike Old English, which tended largely to adopt Late West Saxon scribal conventions in the period immediately before the Norman conquest of England, written Middle English displays a wide variety of scribal forms.

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE MIDDLE ENGLISH

Middle Congo
middle course
middle distance
Middle Dutch
middle ear
Middle East
Middle Eastern
middle eight
Middle England
middle finger
Middle French
middle game
Middle Greek
middle ground
Middle High German
Middle Irish
Middle Kingdom
middle lamella
Middle Low German

WORDS THAT END LIKE MIDDLE ENGLISH

American English
basic English
Canadian English
Chinglish
Dalglish
Early English
English
half-English
Hinglish
King´s English
Modern English
Old English
Oxford English
pidgin English
polish
queen´s English
Singlish
Spanglish
Standard English
the English
un-English

Synonyms and antonyms of Middle English in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «Middle English» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF MIDDLE ENGLISH

Find out the translation of Middle English to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of Middle English from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «Middle English» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

中古英语
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

Inglés medio
570 millions of speakers

English

Middle English
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

मध्य अंग्रेजी
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

اللغة الإنجليزية الوسطى
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

Средний Английский
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

Inglês Médio
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

মধ্যম ইংরেজি
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

Moyen- anglais
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Bahasa Inggeris tengah
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Mittelenglisch
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

中英語
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

중간 영어
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Tengah Inggris
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

Tiếng Anh Trung
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

மத்திய ஆங்கிலம்
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

मध्य इंग्रजी
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

Orta ingilizce
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

Middle English
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

Middle English
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

середній Англійська
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

Middle English
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

Middle English
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

middel-Engels
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

Middle English
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

Middle English
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of Middle English

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «MIDDLE ENGLISH»

The term «Middle English» is quite widely used and occupies the 33.048 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Quite widely used
85
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «Middle English» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of Middle English
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «Middle English».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «MIDDLE ENGLISH» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «Middle English» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «Middle English» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about Middle English

EXAMPLES

4 QUOTES WITH «MIDDLE ENGLISH»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word Middle English.
1
David Eddings
I can read Middle English stories, Geoffrey Chaucer or Sir Thomas Malory, but once I start moving in the direction of contemporary fantasy, my mind begins to take over.
2
David Eddings
I have an unconscious burglar living in my mind: If I read something, it's mine. I can read Middle English stories, Geoffrey Chaucer or Sir Thomas Malory, but once I start moving in the direction of contemporary fantasy, my mind begins to take over.
3
Jeffrey Eugenides
I studied English literature in the honors program, which means that you had to take courses in various centuries. You had to start with Old English, Middle English, and work your way toward the modern. I figured if I did that it would force me to read some of the things I might not read on my own.
4
Samantha Shannon
My English teachers gave me a copy of Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' when I left high school, which has always been very special to me - it was the novel that introduced me to dystopian fiction. I'm also influenced by Edgar Allan Poe, Dickens, John Wyndham and Middle English dream-visions.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «MIDDLE ENGLISH»

Discover the use of Middle English in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to Middle English and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
A Book of Middle English
The book opens with an introduction to the language of the time, designed to enable the reader to understand the representative pieces of Middle English literature that follow.
J. A. Burrow, Thorlac Turville-Petre, 2011
2
An Introduction to Middle English
The book covers the principal features of Middle English spelling, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary and also introduces Middle English textual studies.
Simon Horobin, Jeremy J. Smith, 2002
3
Placing Middle English in Context
Among the topics are language periodization and the concept of middle, normalizing the word forms in the Ayenbite of Inwyt, naming and avoiding naming objects of terror, Chaucer's poetic adaptation of the medieval book curse, and Middle ...
Irma Taavitsainen, 2000
4
Visions of the Other World in Middle English
Bibliography of and introduction to scholarship on medieval visions of the other world.
Robert Easting, 1997
5
A Middle English Reader
Includes notes on each extract, appendices, and an extensive glossary by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Kenneth Sisam, J. R. R. Tolkien, 2005
6
A Companion to Old and Middle English Literature
Presents nineteen chapters, each discussing a different genre, including riddles, balladry, romance, epic poetry, and beast fables.
Laura C. Lambdin, Robert T. Lambdin, 2002
7
Pursuing History: Middle English Manuscripts and Their Texts
. . . This is a wholly original and exciting work, unlike any other available from any book or scholar I know of."--Anne Middleton, University of California, Berkeley "This book is important and valuable for many kinds of readers. . .
Ralph Hanna, 1996
8
From OV to VO in Early Middle English
Discusses syntax and word order changes in Middle English dialects, with an emphasis on the shift from sentences where the object precedes the verb to those where the verb comes first, and considers pronouns and literary style.
Carola Trips, 2002
9
Book and Verse: A Guide to Middle English Biblical Literature
"Book and Verse is guide to the variety and extent of biblical literature in England, exclusive of drama and the Wycliffite Bible, that appeared between the twelfth and the fifteenth centuries.
James H. Morey, 2000
10
A Companion to Middle English Prose
Survey of and guide to all the major authors and genres in Middle English prose.
Anthony Stockwell Garfield Edwards, 2004

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «MIDDLE ENGLISH»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term Middle English is used in the context of the following news items.
1
When Did Feminism Get So “Sneaky”?
The word sneak, from the Middle English sniken—to creep or crawl—actually shares DNA with the German root for snake. To me, it calls back ... «Slate Magazine, Jul 15»
2
The gift of fear
They have no truck with middle English capitalism. They can mock and wound, with no ambitions in London to forsake. And it would indeed be ... «Buenos Aires Herald, Jul 15»
3
Lawrence County school board meeting notes
Approved employments: Autumn Norred, Moulton Middle English teacher, effective 2015-16 school year, funding from Foundation; Deidre ... «The Decatur Daily, Jul 15»
4
Review of Cuckoo: Cheating by nature
... known as the traditional harbingers of spring and feature in the oldest known song in English – or rather Middle English: Sumer is icumen in, ... «Cosmos, Jul 15»
5
The lawn goodbye — rise and fall of an American status symbol
The notion of a lawn — which comes from the Middle English word launde — originally referred to communal grazing spaces in medieval ... «Toronto Star, Jul 15»
6
OPEN THREAD: Muslims Take Out Lie-Filled Billboards in Seattle
For example read Beowulf in Old English, or Canterbury Tales in Middle English. Not to mention the incredibly high level of illiteracy among ... «Wizbang, Jul 15»
7
Mind and Body, Wracked
... address when in conversation with others giving way to a spoken patois when alone that sounds like Middle English handed a Joycean spin. «New York Times, Jul 15»
8
The Canterbury Tales | New Theatre
The show opens with a traditional rendering of the The Summoner's Tale, a story of cuckoldry and revenge delivered in in Middle English as a ... «Australian Stage Online, Jul 15»
9
Simon Armitage's The Death of King Arthur, Sam Wanamaker …
Decades ago when I was studying English at university, the obligatory element of Old and Middle English seemed more like a penance than a ... «Telegraph.co.uk, Jul 15»
10
The history of the word “bad”, Chapter 3
We know that Middle English had the adjective badde. What could be its origin? All serious sources emphasize the fact that bad lacks cognates ... «OUPblog, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Middle English [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/middle-english>. Apr 2024 ».
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