† ˈmiddleward Obs.
[f. middle a. + -ward; in sense 2 perh. f. ward n. as in rearward, vanward. Cf. midward.]
1. The middle part of anything.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. viii. 135 All the rynde is for this nothing fyne, Then oonly take the tender myddelwardes. |
2. The middle body of an army.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1988 The kynge..Demenys the medylwarde menskfully hyme selfene. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 828/1 The earle himself led the middle-ward. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 673 Three Battels..of which the Middleward being double fill'd the whole breadth of the Shore. |