"middle way" meaning in English

See middle way in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: middle ways [plural]
Etymology: From middle + way. Compare Dutch middelweg, German Mittelweg; compare also Latin via media. Etymology templates: {{cog|nl|middelweg}} Dutch middelweg, {{cog|de|Mittelweg}} German Mittelweg, {{cog|la|via media}} Latin via media Head templates: {{en-noun}} middle way (plural middle ways)
  1. The middle of three paths. Translations (middle of three paths): 中間路線 (Chinese Mandarin), 中间路线 (zhōngjiān lùxiàn) (Chinese Mandarin), keskitie (Finnish), keskimmäinen tie (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-middle_way-en-noun-YnWo1EU3 Disambiguation of 'middle of three paths': 96 2 2
  2. An intermediate course (of action, policy etc) between two extremes; a compromise. Translations (intermediate course of action): 中庸之道 (zhōngyōng zhī dào) (Chinese Mandarin), keskitie (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-middle_way-en-noun-rXjyQzfL Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with Mandarin translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 15 59 26 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 26 62 12 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 16 51 33 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 13 64 23 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 12 58 30 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 13 70 18 Disambiguation of 'intermediate course of action': 8 82 10
  3. The midpoint of a person's life; middle age. Translations (midpoint of a person's life): 人生中點 (Chinese Mandarin), 人生中点 (rénshēng zhōngdiǎn) (Chinese Mandarin), keski-ikä (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-middle_way-en-noun-Epo2F525 Disambiguation of "midpoint of a person's life": 1 1 98

Inflected forms

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  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "middelweg"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch middelweg",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Mittelweg"
      },
      "expansion": "German Mittelweg",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "via media"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin via media",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From middle + way. Compare Dutch middelweg, German Mittelweg; compare also Latin via media.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "middle ways",
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        "plural"
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  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "middle way (plural middle ways)",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The middle of three paths."
      ],
      "id": "en-middle_way-en-noun-YnWo1EU3",
      "links": [
        [
          "middle",
          "middle"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "96 2 2",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "middle of three paths",
          "word": "中間路線"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 2 2",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "zhōngjiān lùxiàn",
          "sense": "middle of three paths",
          "word": "中间路线"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 2 2",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "middle of three paths",
          "word": "keskitie"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 2 2",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "middle of three paths",
          "word": "keskimmäinen tie"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "15 59 26",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "26 62 12",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "16 51 33",
          "kind": "other",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 64 23",
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          "_dis": "12 58 30",
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        {
          "_dis": "13 70 18",
          "kind": "other",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2009, Simon Tisdall, The Guardian, 21 Sep 09:",
          "text": "Obama's choice, according to McChrystal, a former special forces commander, boils down to this: Escalate or evacuate, get on or get out; there is no middle way that does not invite calamity on a grand scale.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An intermediate course (of action, policy etc) between two extremes; a compromise."
      ],
      "id": "en-middle_way-en-noun-rXjyQzfL",
      "links": [
        [
          "intermediate",
          "intermediate"
        ],
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          "course",
          "course"
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        [
          "compromise",
          "compromise"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "8 82 10",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "zhōngyōng zhī dào",
          "sense": "intermediate course of action",
          "word": "中庸之道"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "8 82 10",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "intermediate course of action",
          "word": "keskitie"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The midpoint of a person's life; middle age."
      ],
      "id": "en-middle_way-en-noun-Epo2F525",
      "links": [
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          "middle age",
          "middle age"
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      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "1 1 98",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "midpoint of a person's life",
          "word": "人生中點"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 1 98",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "rénshēng zhōngdiǎn",
          "sense": "midpoint of a person's life",
          "word": "人生中点"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 1 98",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "midpoint of a person's life",
          "word": "keski-ikä"
        }
      ]
    }
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  "wikipedia": [
    "Middle Way"
  ],
  "word": "middle way"
}
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    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
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    "Terms with Mandarin translations"
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      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "middelweg"
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        "1": "de",
        "2": "Mittelweg"
      },
      "expansion": "German Mittelweg",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "via media"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin via media",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From middle + way. Compare Dutch middelweg, German Mittelweg; compare also Latin via media.",
  "forms": [
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        "plural"
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  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The middle of three paths."
      ],
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          "middle",
          "middle"
        ]
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        {
          "ref": "2009, Simon Tisdall, The Guardian, 21 Sep 09:",
          "text": "Obama's choice, according to McChrystal, a former special forces commander, boils down to this: Escalate or evacuate, get on or get out; there is no middle way that does not invite calamity on a grand scale.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An intermediate course (of action, policy etc) between two extremes; a compromise."
      ],
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          "course",
          "course"
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        ]
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    {
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        "The midpoint of a person's life; middle age."
      ],
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          "middle age",
          "middle age"
        ]
      ]
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  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "middle of three paths",
      "word": "中間路線"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "zhōngjiān lùxiàn",
      "sense": "middle of three paths",
      "word": "中间路线"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "middle of three paths",
      "word": "keskitie"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "middle of three paths",
      "word": "keskimmäinen tie"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "zhōngyōng zhī dào",
      "sense": "intermediate course of action",
      "word": "中庸之道"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "intermediate course of action",
      "word": "keskitie"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "midpoint of a person's life",
      "word": "人生中點"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "rénshēng zhōngdiǎn",
      "sense": "midpoint of a person's life",
      "word": "人生中点"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "midpoint of a person's life",
      "word": "keski-ikä"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Middle Way"
  ],
  "word": "middle way"
}

Download raw JSONL data for middle way meaning in English (2.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (bb46d54 and 0c3c9f6). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.