What does the prefix mid- mean?
Mid- shows the central point or the middle of a time, a space or a process. It is the prefix for what is exactly in the middle. It comes from Old English, not Latin, and it is one of the ones used in everyday life.
ESEN
Prefix · middle / central point
mid-
Signals the central point or middle of something: midnight, midday, midterm, mid-air.
Basic
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
Mid- is a plain English prefix
Mid- is one of the few prefixes that is also a word of its own, and it is native English, not Latin or Greek. You just attach mid- to the word, which is why it is so convenient and so frequent with months, times of the day and stages of life. If you see mid- with something about time, think: "in the middle of".
How it is used
Attaches to time, space, or process nouns. Takes a hyphen when the root starts with a vowel or is a compound word:
- mid + noun starting with consonant (no hyphen)night → midnightfield → midfieldterm → midtermsize → midsizeday → midday
- mid- + vowel or compound word (with hyphen)air → mid-airafternoon → mid-afternoonJanuary → mid-Januarycareer → mid-career
Pronunciation: /mɪd/, with a short "i" as in "sit." The hyphen rule is not absolute: "midday" and "mid-day" are both accepted.
How it is pronounced
mid-/mɪd/
Tap the button to hear how the prefix sounds. Each word in the table has its own audio.
Examples
Root word
With mid-
In a phrase
- nightmidnightThe celebration was just beginning as midnight arrived.
- daymiddayThe heat was so intense that locals stayed indoors at midday.
- termmidtermStudents feel the most pressure right before midterm exams.
- airmid-airThe two planes nearly had a mid-air collision over the city.
- fieldmidfieldTheir strongest players controlled the pace from midfield.
- careermid-careerMany professionals switch industries at a mid-career stage.
- sizemidsizeShe chose a midsize car for easier parking downtown.
Common mistakes
midnight = any late-night hour
midnight = exactly 12:00 at night
"Midnight" is precisely 12:00 at night. "Late at night" describes vaguely the hours between midnight and dawn. "In the middle of the night" covers the broadly dark hours in a more casual way.
mid-air = on the ground (literal reading of "air")
mid-air = while something is airborne or falling through the air
"A mid-air collision" = crash between two planes while flying. "He caught the ball in mid-air" = caught it before it hit the ground. Mid-air describes the space between the sky and the surface.
A trick to remember it
Literal, short for "middle": mid- = middle. midnight, midway.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
"The two planes came dangerously close to a ___ collision before air traffic control stepped in."
Exercise 3 · Pick the right one
What does "midterm" mean in an academic context?
Frequently asked questions
What does the prefix mid- mean in English?
The prefix mid- signals the central point or middle of something: midnight, midday, midterm, mid-air.
How do you pronounce mid-?
The prefix mid- is pronounced /mɪd/. For example, "midnight".
Can you give an example of a word with mid-?
"night" becomes "midnight". It is a typical example of the mid- prefix.
Other useful prefixes
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