midmost, a. and adv.
(ˈmɪdməʊst)
Forms: 1 midmest, middemyst, 3 mydmest, 3–4 midmeste, 4 mydemyst, mydmest(e, 5 midmast, 6 midmest, 7– midmost.
[OE. midmest, formed with suffix -est on WGer. *middjumo- (OHG. in mittamen in the middle), OTeut. *miđjumo- (see middenerd):—Indogermanic *medhyəmo- (Skr. madhyama), superlative of *medhyo- mid a.
OE. had also a synonymous medemest, formed with suffix -est on OTeut. *međumo- (Goth. miduma, OHG. metam- in compounds; cf. metami, OE. medume, medeme:—*međumjo-, moderate):—Indogermanic *medhəmo-, a superlative formed directly from the root *medh-.]
A. adj.
1. a. That is in the very middle, with regard to position, age, etc.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 112 Þanne sceal hym man læten blod on þan earme on þan middemyste ædra. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 685 Þre doȝtren þe king adde þe eldost het gornorille Þe midmeste het regan. c 1375 Cursor M. 10023 (Fairf.) The mydmest bayly of þ⊇ thre Bytokenyþ wele hir chastite. 1587 Reg. Privy Council Scot. IV. 205 Thai..hes dismemberit him..of the haill twa midmest fingaris. 1663 Cowley Verses Sev. Occas., Christ's Passion iii, My greedy eyes fly up the hill, and see Who 'tis hangs there the midmost of the three. 1697 Dryden æneid x. 1083 Proud Mezentius..rush'd into the Plain, Where tow'ring in the midmost Ranks he stood. 1716 Pope Iliad viii. 270 High on the midmost bark the king appear'd. 1882 Farrar Early Chr. I. 308 He [Philo] compares it [the Word of God] to the midmost branch of the golden candlestick. |
b. absol. (now chiefly poet.) The midmost part, the middle.
| 1382 Wyclif Matt. Prol. 1 In the whiche gospel it is profitable to men desyrynge God, so to knowe the first, the mydmeste, other the last, that [etc.]. 1865 Palgrave Arabia I. 102 A huge parallelogram, placed almost diagonally across the midmost of Arabia. 1865 Swinburne Dolores 333 From the midmost of Ida. 1905 Edin. Rev. Oct. 367 We are made to feel the young girl's enjoyment..even in the midmost of her grief. 1912 E. Pound tr. Cavalcanti's Sonnets & Ballate 19 As though I'd won unto his heart's mid-most. 1915 ― Cathay 7 And within, the mistress, in the midmost of her youth. 1955 ― Classic Anthol. ii. 142, I have held him in love so long From heart's mid-most be it song Not to be lost. |
2. In partitive concord: The middle or midst of.
| 1807 J. Barlow Columb. vii. 420 Where York and Gloster's rocky towers bestride..Virginia's midmost tide. 1885–94 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche Oct. xvii, She sank Silently weeping on the temple stair, In midmost night. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid ii. 329 High in the midmost city the horse pours forth from its side Warriors armed. |
3. Most intimate.
| 1846 Hawthorne Mosses i. i. 19 It comes flowing softly through the midmost privacy. |
B. adv. a. In the middle or midst.
| 1700 Dryden Pal. & Arc. iii. 536 The king goes midmost. 1800 Coleridge Piccolom. v. iii, Then midmost in the battle was I led In spirit. 1892 ‘M. Field’ Sight & Song 13 Midmost of the breeze. |
b. prep. In the middle or midst of.
| 1870 Morris Earthly Par. Introd., Midmost the beating of the steely sea. 1892 Longm. Mag. Aug. 397 It stands midmost a marsh-country. |