Dictionary

Middle Ages en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌmɪdl̩ ˈeɪdʒɪz/ (UK, US)

Meanings

1. The period of primarily European history between the decline of the Western Roman Empire (antiquity) and the early modern period or the Renaissance; the time between c. 500 and 1500 CE.
   • The Middle Ages, according to the division I have adopted, comprize about one thousand years, from the invasion of France by Clovis to that of Naples by Charles VIII. 1818, Henry Hallam, View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, third edition, volume III, London: John Murray, published 1822, chapter ix: “On the State of Society in Europe during the Middle Ages.”, part i, page 304:
   • The Third and last Part will be rather Historical than Critical, being an Essay on the Taste and Literature of the middle Age. a. 1780, James Harris, Philological Inquiries, in three parts, part I, London: Charles Nourse, published 1781, epistle dedicatory, page 4:
   • His acquaintance with the Middle Age generally may without injustice be pronounced slight; and though well informed as to the history of the Continent, his knowledge of it, as we shall have occasion to see, was not so accurate or deep. 1882, James Cotter Morison, Macaulay (English Men of Letters), New York: Harper & Brothers, chapter iii: “The ‘Essays.’”, page 70:
   • Middle''' Age denotes the ſpace of time commencing from Conſtantine, and ending at the taking of Conſtantinople by the Turks, in the fifteenth century. Martin. Dial. Geogr. in Pref. Mem. de Trev. an. 1729. p. 1359. See alſo Bibl. Univ. T. 12. p. 393. ſeq. 1753, Ephraim Chambers, edited by George Lewis Scott and John Hill, A Supplement to Mr. Chambers’s Cyclopædia; or, Univerſal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences., volume I, London: several publishers, s.v. AGE, subentry Middle''' Age:
   • Within two centuries of its [scil. the Nicene Creed’s] promulgation, the Græco-Roman world had descended into the great hollow which is roughly called the Middle Ages, extending from the fifth to the fifteenth century, a hollow in which many great, beautiful and heroic things were done and created, but in which knowledge, as we understand it, and as Aristotle understood it, had no place. 1887, James Cotter Morison, The Service of Man. An Essay towards the Religion of the Future., London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., chapter vii: “What Christianity has done”, pages 177–178:
   • The Geography of the middle Ages, ſays Mr. Juncker, ought to begin with the Diviſion of the Roman Empire made by Theodoſius the Great, about the End of the fourth Century, and muſt not reach farther than the Time of the Emperor Maximilian I. who divided Germany into Circles in the beginning of the XVIth Century. 1722, Memoirs of Literature, second edition, volume VI, London: Robert Knaplock · Paul Vaillant, article xxxix. Leipsick., page 296:
   • She could see the town below her, nestled on top of a low hill, surrounded by a crenellated wall from the Middle Ages. 2001, Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl; book 1 of 8), Viking, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 52:
   • The Interval between the fall of these two Empires (the Weſtern or Latin in the fifth Century, the Eaſtern or Grecian in the fifteenth) making a ſpace of near a thouſand years, conſtitutes what we call the Middle Age. The Middle Age in this usage spans the years 476–1453. ibidem, part III, chapter i, page 240
   • A term usually employed to denote, somewhat vaguely, a space of several centuries in European annals, intervening between what are called the ancient and modern periods of history. The centuries between the ninth or tenth and the end of the fifteenth after Christ are generally comprehended under this loose denomination. In the work of Mr. Hallam on the Middle Ages, that historian has assumed as his period of commencement the conquest of Gaul by the Franks, about A. D. 500; and, for his conclusion, the invasion of Italy by Charles VIII., about 1500; and with reference to the affairs of the Greeks and their oriental neighbours, he places, as the most convenient limit between ancient and modern history, the era of Mohammed. 1842, William Thomas Brande, Joseph Cauvin, editors, A Dictionary of Science, Literature, & Art, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, s.v. MIʹDDLE AGES, page 741/1:

Forms

Deriveds

Early Middle Ages · Late Middle Ages · middle-age · middle-aged · High Middle Ages · middleagism

Relateds

medieval

Synonyms

Dark Ages · Barbarous Age

Translations (133)

uk сере́дні віки́ (historical period) · ms Zaman Pertengahan (historical period) · yue 中古時代 /中古时代 (historical period) · bua дунда зуун (historical period) · ug ئوتتۇرا ئەسىر (historical period) · cmn 中世紀 /中世纪 (historical period) · cs středověk (historical period) · fur Ete di mieç (historical period) · ca edat mitjana (historical period) · fi keskiaika (historical period) · ga An Mheánaois (historical period) · sh средњи вијек (historical period) · km យុគកណ្ដាល (historical period) · fr Moyen Âge (historical period) · id Abad Pertengahan (historical period) · cy yr Oesoedd Canol (historical period) · sv medeltiden (historical period) · be сярэдняве́чча (historical period) · pdt Rittatiet (historical period) · hy միջին դարեր (historical period) · be сярэ́днія вякі́ (historical period) · ko 중세 (historical period) · ky орто кылымдар (historical period) · srn mindriyarihondro (historical period) · sh srednji vijek (historical period) · lt viduramžiai (historical period) · gl Idade Media (historical period) · kk орта ғасыр (historical period) · la Media Aetās (historical period) · yue 中古 (historical period) · cmn 中古時代 /中古时代 (historical period) · th มัชฌิมยุค (historical period) · mt Żminijiet Nofsana (historical period) · ps منځنۍ پېړۍ (historical period) · szl Strzedńe Storocza (historical period) · uk середньові́ччя (historical period) · oc Edat Mejana (historical period) · ar الْقُرُون الْوُسْطَى (historical period) · da middelalder (historical period) · fa-ira سَدِههایِ مِیانی (historical period) · tg асрҳои миёна (historical period) · la Aera Mediaevālis (historical period) · ru сре́дние века́ (historical period) · es Edad Media (historical period) · sh средњи век (historical period) · my အလယ်ခေတ် (historical period) · is miðaldir (historical period) · hu középkor (historical period) · cmn 中古 (historical period) · fur Etât di mieç (historical period) · dsb srjejźowěk (historical period) · vo zänodatimäd (historical period) · hsb srjedźowěk (historical period) · it Medioevo (historical period) · tl Edad Medya (historical period) · uz oʻrta asr (historical period) · mk среден век (historical period) · he יְמֵי הַבֵּינַיִם (historical period) · ur قُرُونِ وُسْطیٰ (historical period) · nl middeleeuwen (historical period) · be сярэдневяко́ўе (historical period) · es medioevo (historical period) · tt урта гасырлар (historical period) · mt Medju Evu (historical period) · tt урта гасыр (historical period) · lb Mëttelalter (historical period) · mk средновековие (historical period) · tg қуруни вусто (historical period) · hi मध्य युग (historical period) · ky орто кылым (historical period) · lo ສະໄໝກາງ (historical period) · sq mesjeta (historical period) · pl średniowiecze (historical period) · tl Gitnang Kapanahunan (historical period) · ny Nyengo Yapakati (historical period) · am መካከለኛ ዘመን (historical period) · el Μεσαίωνας (historical period) · lv viduslaiki (historical period) · th สมัยกลาง (historical period) · eo mezepoko (historical period) · ar الْعُصُور الْوُسْطَى (historical period) · hy միջնադար (historical period) · gd Na Linntean Meadhanach (historical period) · sk stredovek (historical period) · sl srednji vek (historical period) · kmr Serdema Navîn (historical period) · bg сре́дни векове́ (historical period) · bn মধ্যযুগ (historical period) · hi मध्यकाल (historical period) · et keskaeg (historical period) · nb mellomalder (historical period) · ro Evul Mediu (historical period) · uz oʻrta asrlar (historical period) · la Medium Aevum (historical period) · ja 中世 (historical period) · kk орта ғасырлар (historical period) · vi trung cổ (historical period) · prs سَدِههَایِ مِیَانِی (historical period) · sh srednji vek (historical period) · yue 中世紀 /中世纪 (historical period) · ps قرون وسطي (historical period) · yi מיטל עלטער (historical period) · fa-ira قُرونِ وُسْطیٰ (historical period) · bg средновеко́вие (historical period) · mr मध्ययुग (historical period) · nan-hbl 中古時代 /中古时代 (historical period) · la Medium Tempus (historical period) · az Orta Əsrlər (historical period) · th ยุคกลาง (historical period) · he ימי הביניים (historical period) · prs قُرُونِ وُسْطیٰ (historical period) · alt орто чактар (historical period) · ur اَزْمِنَۂ وُسْطیٰ (historical period) · nn mellomalder (historical period) · sw Zama za Kati (historical period) · tk orta asyrlar (historical period) · nb middelalder (historical period) · scn Mediuevu (historical period) · mn дундад зуун (historical period) · es Medievo (historical period) · nan-hbl 中世紀 /中世纪 (historical period) · pt Idade Média (historical period) · ka შუა საუკუნეები (historical period) · ba урта быуат (historical period) · de Mittelalter (historical period) · sq mesjetë (historical period) · tr Orta Çağ (historical period) · pt medievo (historical period) · ru средневеко́вье (historical period) · vi trung đại (historical period) · csb strzédnowiek (historical period) · tk orta asyr (historical period) · gd Na Meadhan-aoisean (historical period)

wikidata: Q12554