Where does “Middle East” come from?
Middle East (English) comes from English middle, from Middle English myddel, from Old English middel, from Proto-West Germanic *midl, from Proto-Germanic midlą, from Proto-Germanic midjō, from Proto-Indo-European médʰyos, from Proto-Indo-European medʰi- — in the middle of, near, by, around, with.
Middle East (English): The region between the Near East and the Far East
Definitions
- The region between the Near East and the Far East
Ancestry of “Middle East”, step by step
Middle East traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English middle
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | middle | A centre, midpoint; The part between the... |
| 2 | Middle English | myddel | The middle or centre of something |
| 3 | Old English | middel | middle |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *midl | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | midlą | middle |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | midjō | middle, midst |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | médʰyos | middle |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | medʰi- | with, among; with, along |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | me | in the middle of, near, by, around, with |
via English East
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | East | Any of various particular regions named for the cardinal direction in which they lie |
| 2 | Middle English | est | east, easternness; A location to the south; the... |
| 3 | Old English | ēast | east; eastern |
| 4 | Old Norse | austr | east |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | austrą | east; east, eastward |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | austraz | east, eastern |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | *h₂éwsteros | in the direction of dawn, east |