Middle Ages

pl.n.

The period in European history between antiquity and the Renaissance, often dated from ad 476 to 1453.

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.

Middle Ages

1. (Historical Terms) (broadly) the period from the end of classical antiquity (or the deposition of the last W Roman emperor in 476 ad) to the Italian Renaissance (or the fall of Constantinople in 1453)

2. (Historical Terms) (narrowly) the period from about 1000 ad to the 15th century. Compare Dark Ages

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

Mid′dle Ag′es

the time in European history between classical antiquity and the Renaissance, from the late 5th century to about 1350: sometimes restricted to the period after 1100 and sometimes extended to 1450 or 1500.

[1715–25; translation of New Latin Medium Aevum]

Middle Ages

– middle age

1. 'Middle Ages'

In European history, the Middle Ages were the period between approximately 1000 AD and 1400 AD.

This practice was common throughout the Middle Ages.

2. 'middle age'

Middle age is the period in a person's life when they are no longer young but are not yet old.

...the onset of middle age.

Men tend to put on weight in middle age.

3. 'middle-aged'

When someone has reached this period of their life, you can say that they are middle-aged.

The boss was a middle-aged woman.

...middle-aged married businessmen.

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

Middle Ages - the period of history between classical antiquity and the Italian Renaissance

Dark Ages

bloodletting - formerly used as a treatment to reduce excess blood (one of the four humors of medieval medicine)

cannon - (Middle Ages) a cylindrical piece of armor plate to protect the arm

chain armor, chain armour, chain mail, ring armor, ring armour, ring mail, mail - (Middle Ages) flexible armor made of interlinked metal rings

habergeon - (Middle Ages) a light sleeveless coat of chain mail worn under the hauberk

miniature, illumination - painting or drawing included in a book (especially in illuminated medieval manuscripts)

pavis, pavise - (Middle Ages) a large heavy oblong shield protecting the whole body; originally carried but sometimes set up in permanent position

humour, humor - (Middle Ages) one of the four fluids in the body whose balance was believed to determine your emotional and physical state; "the humors are blood and phlegm and yellow and black bile"

Cockaigne - (Middle Ages) an imaginary land of luxury and idleness

courtly love - (Middle Ages) a highly conventionalized code of conduct for lovers

knight errantry - (Middle Ages) the code of conduct observed by a knight errant who is wandering in search of deeds of chivalry

trivium - (Middle Ages) an introductory curriculum at a medieval university involving grammar and logic and rhetoric; considered to be a triple way to eloquence

quadrivium - (Middle Ages) a higher division of the curriculum in a medieval university involving arithmetic and music and geometry and astronomy

Oberson - (Middle Ages) the king of the fairies and husband of Titania in medieval folklore

Titania - (Middle Ages) the queen of the fairies in medieval folklore

esquire - (Middle Ages) an attendant and shield bearer to a knight; a candidate for knighthood

palsgrave, palatine - (Middle Ages) the lord of a palatinate who exercised sovereign powers over his lands

Tristan, Tristram - (Middle Ages) the nephew of the king of Cornwall who (according to legend) fell in love with his uncle's bride (Iseult) after they mistakenly drank a love potion that left them eternally in love with each other

Iseult, Isolde - (Middle Ages) the bride of the king of Cornwall who (according to legend) fell in love with the king's nephew (Tristan) after they mistakenly drank a love potion that left them eternally in love with each other

helot, serf, villein - (Middle Ages) a person who is bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord

history - the aggregate of past events; "a critical time in the school's history"

Translations

الْعُصُورُ الْوُسْطَىالقُرون الوُسْطى

středověk

middelalder

keskiaika

srednji vijek

középkorközépkor: a középkor

miîaldir

Medioevo

中世

중년

stredovek

srednji vek

medeltidmedeltiden

ยุคกลาง

Orta Çağ

thời Trung cổ

中世纪

Middle Ages

npl the Middle Ages → il Medioevo

middle

(ˈmidl) noun

1. the central point or part. the middle of a circle.

2. the central area of the body; the waist. You're getting rather fat round your middle.

adjective

equally distant from both ends. the middle seat in a row.

ˈmiddling adjective

average. He's neither tall nor short, but of middling height.

middle age

the years between youth and old age. She is well into middle age.

ˌmiddle-ˈaged adjective

Middle Ages (with the)

the time between the end of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance.

Middle East (with the)

Egypt and the countries of Asia west of Pakistan.

ˈmiddleman (-mӕn) noun

a dealer who buys goods from the person who makes or grows them, and sells them to shopkeepers or to the public; a wholesaler. You can save money by buying direct from the factory and cutting out the middleman.

be in the middle of (doing) something

to be busily occupied doing something. Please excuse my appearance. I was in the middle of washing my hair.

Middle Ages

→ الْعُصُورُ الْوُسْطَى středověk middelalder Mittelalter Μεσαίωνας Edad Media keskiaika Moyen-Âge srednji vijek Medioevo 中世 중년 middeleeuwen middelalderen Średniowiecze Idade Média Средневековье medeltiden ยุคกลาง Orta Çağ thời Trung cổ 中世纪