\Mid"dle\, a. [OE. middel, AS. middel; akin to D. middel,
OHG. muttil, G. mittel. ????. See {Mid}, a.]
1. Equally distant from the extreme either of a number of
   things or of one thing; mean; medial; as, the middle house
   in a row; a middle rank or station in life; flowers of
   middle summer; men of middle age.
2. Intermediate; intervening.
         Will, seeking good, finds many middle ends. --Sir J.
                                               Davies.
Note: Middle is sometimes used in the formation of
      selfexplaining compounds; as, middle-sized,
      middle-witted.
{Middle Ages}, the period of time intervening between the
   decline of the Roman Empire and the revival of letters.
   Hallam regards it as beginning with the sixth and ending
   with the fifteenth century.
{Middle class}, in England, people who have an intermediate
   position between the aristocracy and the artisan class. It
   includes professional men, bankers, merchants, and small
   landed proprietors
         The middle-class electorate of Great Britain. --M.
                                               Arnold.
{Middle distance}. (Paint.) See {Middle-ground}.
{Middle English}. See {English}, n., 2.
{Middle Kingdom}, China.
{Middle oil} (Chem.), that part of the distillate obtained
   from coal tar which passes over between 170[deg] and
   230[deg] Centigrade; -- distinguished from the light, and
   the heavy or dead, oil.
{Middle passage}, in the slave trade, that part of the
   Atlantic Ocean between Africa and the West Indies.
{Middle post}. (Arch.) Same as {King-post}.
{Middle States}, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
   Delaware; which, at the time of the formation of the
   Union, occupied a middle position between the Eastern
   States (or New England) and the Southern States. [U.S.]
{Middle term} (Logic), that term of a syllogism with which
   the two extremes are separately compared, and by means of
   which they are brought together in the conclusion.
   --Brande.
{Middle tint} (Paint.), a subdued or neutral tint.
   --Fairholt.
{Middle voice}. (Gram.) See under {Voice}.
{Middle watch}, the period from midnight to four A. M.; also,
   the men on watch during that time. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
{Middle weight}, a pugilist, boxer, or wrestler classed as of
   medium weight, i. e., over 140 and not over 160 lbs., in
   distinction from those classed as {light weights}, {heavy
   weights}, etc.

\Mid"dle\, n. [AS. middel. See {Middle}, a.]
The point or part equally distant from the extremities or
exterior limits, as of a line, a surface, or a solid; an
intervening point or part in space, time, or order of series;
the midst; central portion; specif., the waist. --Chaucer.
``The middle of the land.'' --Judg. ix. 37.
      In this, as in most questions of state, there is a
      middle.                                  --Burke.
Syn: See {Midst}.