me·di·e·val

also me·di·ae·val (mē′dē-ē′vəl, mĕd′ē-, mĭ-dē′vəl)

adj.

1. also Medieval

a. Relating or belonging to the Middle Ages.

b. Of or relating to a historical period roughly coinciding with the European Middle Ages and characterized by feudal or aristocratic social structures, as in Japan or China.

a. Suggestive of the Middle Ages, as in being hierarchical or cruel.

b. Informal Old-fashioned; unenlightened: parents with a medieval attitude toward dating.

[From New Latin medium aevum, the middle age : Latin, neuter of medius, middle; see medhyo- in Indo-European roots + Latin aevum, age; see aiw- in Indo-European roots.]

me′di·e′val·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

medieval

(ˌmɛdɪˈiːvəl) or

mediaeval

adj

1. (Historical Terms) of, relating to, or in the style of the Middle Ages

2. informal old-fashioned; primitive

[C19: from New Latin medium aevum the middle age. See medium, age]

ˌmediˈevally, ˌmediˈaevally adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

me•di•e•val

or me•di•ae•val

(ˌmi diˈi vəl, ˌmɛd i-, ˌmɪd i-, mɪdˈi vəl)

adj.

of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the Middle Ages.

[1820–30; < New Latin medi(um)aev(um) the middle age + -al¹. See medium, age]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	medieval - relating to or belonging to the Middle Ages; "Medieval scholars"; "Medieval times" mediaeval
	2.	medieval - as if belonging to the Middle Ages; old-fashioned and unenlightened; "a medieval attitude toward dating" mediaeval, gothic nonmodern - not modern; of or characteristic of an earlier time
	3.	medieval - characteristic of the time of chivalry and knighthood in the Middle Ages; "chivalric rites"; "the knightly years" chivalric, knightly past - earlier than the present time; no longer current; "time past"; "his youth is past"; "this past Thursday"; "the past year"

medieval

adjective (Informal) old-fashioned, antique, primitive, obsolete, out-of-date, archaic, prehistoric, antiquated, anachronistic, antediluvian, unenlightened, out of the ark There can be no excuse for these medieval methods.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

مُتَعَلِقٌ بِالْقُرُونِ الْوُسْطَى

středověký

middelalderligmiddelalder-

keskiaikainen

srednjovjekovni

középkori

miîalda-, frá/sem lÿtur aî miîöldum

medievale medioevale

中世の

중세의

viduramžių

viduslaiku

middeleeuwermiddeleeuws

middelaldersk middelalder-

średniowieczny

medieval

средневековый

srednjeveški

medeltida

เกี่ยวกับยุคกลาง

Orta Çağa aitortaçağ

thuộc thời Trung cổ

中世纪的

medieval

[ˌmedɪˈiːvəl] ADJ → medieval

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

medieval

[ˌmɛdiˈiːv^əl] mediaeval (British) adj → médiéval(e)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

medieval

adj (lit, fig) → mittelalterlich; in medieval times → im Mittelalter; it’s positively medieval (practice, attitude) → es ist wie im Mittelalter

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

medieval

[ˌmɛdɪˈiːv/əl] adj → medievale, del medio evo
medieval studies → medievalistica sg

medieval,

mediaeval

(mediˈiːvəl) , ((American) mi:-) adjective

of, or belonging to, the Middle Ages. medieval plays/music.

medieval

→ مُتَعَلِقٌ بِالْقُرُونِ الْوُسْطَى středověký middelalderlig mittelalterlich μεσαιωνικός medieval keskiaikainen médiéval srednjovjekovni medievale 中世の 중세의 middeleeuws middelaldersk średniowieczny medieval средневековый medeltida เกี่ยวกับยุคกลาง ortaçağ thuộc thời Trung cổ 中世纪的

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

He painted studies from nature under the guidance of an Italian professor of painting, and studied medieval Italian life.

View in context

And though our personal sympathies may well go to the finer-spirited Irish, this outcome was on the whole fortunate; for only through religious union with Rome during the slow centuries of medieval rebirth could England be bound to the rest of Europe as one of the family of cooperating Christian states; and outside that family she would have been isolated and spiritually starved.

One of the greatest gifts of Christianity, it should be observed, and one of the most important influences in medieval civilization, was the network of monasteries which were now gradually established and became centers of active hospitality and the chief homes of such learning as was possible to the time.

Sometimes there is real religious yearning, and indeed the heroes of these poems are partly medieval hermits and ascetics as well as quick-striking fighters; but for the most part the Christian Providence is really only the heathen Wyrd under another name, and God and Christ are viewed in much the same way as the Anglo-Saxon kings, the objects of feudal allegiance which is sincere but rather self-assertive and worldly than humble or consecrated.

Plenty of its other writing remains in the shape of religious prose--sermons, lives and legends of saints, biblical paraphrases, and similar work in which the monastic and priestly spirit took delight, but which is generally dull with the dulness of medieval commonplace didacticism and fantastic symbolism.

View in context

There is much that is immortal in this medieval lady.

Lucy does not stand for the medieval lady, who was rather an ideal to which she was bidden to lift her eyes when feeling serious.

View in context

Criticism may torment this sense or that sense out of it, but at the end of the ends the "Divine Comedy" will stand for the patriotism of medieval Italy, as far as its ethics is concerned, and for a profound and lofty ideal of beauty, as far as its aesthetics is concerned.

View in context

I might point to the profound intellectual depth of certain pieces as its characteristic, or, equally, to the traces here and there of an apparent carelessness of workmanship; or, yet again, to the new and very marked partiality for scenes and situations of English and modern rather than medieval and foreign life."

View in context

"Positively medieval! Fancy living with one man three years."

View in context

Its Medieval walls trace its past as does the old town's architecture.

Discover Medieval Nicosia

Buildings of Medieval Europe: Studies in Social and Landscape Contexts of Medieval Buildings