# middle

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈmɪdl̩/ · frequency rank #678

## Definitions
1. A centre, midpoint.
2. The part between the beginning and the end.
3. The middle stump.
4. The central part of a human body; the waist.
5. The middle voice.
6. the center of the political spectrum.

## Etymology
From Middle English middel, from Old English middel (“middle, centre, waist”), from Proto-Germanic *midlą, *midilą, *medalą (“middle”), a diminutive of Proto-Germanic *midjō (“middle, midst”) (compare *midjaz (“mid, middle”, adjective)), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between, in the middle, middle”).
Cognates
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Middel (“middle”), West Frisian mul (“middle”), Dutch middel (“means; medicine, cure”), German mittel (“middle”, adjective), Mittel (“means; medicament, remedy”, noun), Luxembourgish Mëttel (“means, method; medicament”), Vilamovian mytuł (“middle”), Yiddish מיטל (mitl, “middle”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk middel (“means”), Icelandic meðal (“average; means, medicine”), Swedish medel (“average, mean, middle”). See also mid.

## Easily confused with
- **mile** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/middle-vs-mile)
- **mille** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/middle-vs-mille)
- **midge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/middle-vs-midge)
- **module** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/middle-vs-module)
- **mildly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/middle-vs-mildly)
- **mingle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/middle-vs-mingle)
- **muddle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/middle-vs-muddle)
- **muddled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/middle-vs-muddled)
- **midday** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/midday-vs-middle)
- **Maddie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maddie-vs-middle)
- **meddle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/meddle-vs-middle)

## Common misspellings (7)
`imddle`, `mdidle`, `middel`, `middlle`, `midlde`, `midle`, `mmiddle`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/middle