Dictionary

middle child en · NOUN

Meanings

1. In an immediate family containing three children, the child who is neither the oldest nor the youngest.
   • My husband is the classic middle child, the peacemaker often overlooked by his parents. 2013 October 17, Carolyn Hax, “Tell Me About It: Middle-child syndrome, 2d generation”, in philly.com, retrieved 28 Apr 2014:
   • Elliott [is] the forgotten 10-year-old middle child between a teenager with a lot of friends and a precocious golden girl. 2002 March 30, Richard Corliss, “That Old Feeling: "E.T." Goes Home”, in Time, retrieved 27 Apr 2014:
   • I was the middle child of three, but there was a gap of five years on either side, and I barely saw my father before I was eight. For this and other reasons I was somewhat lonely. 1946, George Orwell, Why I Write:
   • As a middle child, you're not Mommy's big girl nor her little boy; you're just there. 1987 February 15, Jean M. Sarosy, “Topics: The Unseen Woman”, in New York Times, retrieved 27 Apr 2014:

Forms

Deriveds

middle child syndrome

Relateds

baby of the family · firstborn

Translations (9)

fr cadet (the child who is neither the oldest nor the youngest) · hy միջնակ (the child who is neither the oldest nor the youngest) · pt filha do meio (the child who is neither the oldest nor the youngest) · az ortancıl (the child who is neither the oldest nor the youngest) · fi keskimmäinen (the child who is neither the oldest nor the youngest) · az ortancıl uşaq (the child who is neither the oldest nor the youngest) · hy միջնեկ (the child who is neither the oldest nor the youngest) · pt filho do meio (the child who is neither the oldest nor the youngest) · pl środkowe dziecko (the child who is neither the oldest nor the youngest)