mittel
German, adjective
mittel is spelled M-I-T-T-E-L (6 letters) and appears 69 times per million words in written German, the 1,232nd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Mittel is a German adjective meaning “average, middling” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Mittel is a different word: “agent, appliance”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “in der Mitte befindlich”.
What does mittel mean in English?
adjective
- 1
archaicmiddle, in the middle
in mitt(e)ler Nacht, in mitteler Zeit, zum mittlen (Segen-)Tau
- 2
informalaverage, middling
Wie ist die Klassenarbeit gelaufen? Na ja, so mittel.
- 3
mid
mittlerer Vokal
noun
- 1
neuteragent, appliance
- 2
neutermeans
- 3
neutermedicament, remedy
- 4
neuterfunds, capital
- 5
neutermedian
- 6
datedneuterThe middle of the 7 traditional sizes of German type, between Cicero and Tertia, standardized as 14 point and taken as roughly equivalent to "English" type.
prefix
- 1
middle, medium
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. etwas (eine Maßnahme, Gegenstand, Stoff und so weiter) mit einem bestimmten Zweck/einer gewissen Funktion, um etwas zu erreichen oder zu erzielen 2. Geldmittel oder andere Werte 3. in der Mitte, im Durchschnitt liegender Wert
noun: 1. Schriftgrad mit 14 Punkt
adjective: 1. in der Mitte befindlich 2. von mäßiger Qualität, nicht herausragend gut oder schlecht
prefix: 1. vorangestelltes Wortbildungselement mit der Bedeutung „mittlerer Grad“ oder „mittlere Position“
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of mittel
- Mittels genitive
- Mitteln dative definite plural
- mitteler dated masculine nominative
- mittler masculine nominative singular
- am mittelsten superlative
- mittele dated feminine nominative
- mittle dated feminine nominative
- mitteles dated neuter nominative
- mittles dated neuter nominative
- mittelen dated genitive masculine
- mittlen dated genitive masculine
- mittelem dated dative masculine
- mittlem dated dative masculine
- Mittelchen diminutive
- mittlerer comparative nominative strong
- mittlere comparative nominative strong
- mittleres comparative nominative strong
- mittleren comparative genitive strong
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to mittel
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is mittel in German?
mittel appears 69 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).