Mittelalter

German

Etymology

From mittel +‎ Alter. Originally used in the sense of "middle age (of life)". The sense of "Middle Ages" is a loan translation of Latin medium aevum.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

Mittelalter n (strong, genitive Mittelalters, no plural)

1. Middle Ages
2. (rare) middle age

   Synonym: mittleres Alter

3. (colloquial) Middle-aged person or persons.

Declension

Declension of Mittelalter [sg-only, neuter, strong]

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Mittelalter
genitive	eines	des	Mittelalters
dative	einem	dem	Mittelalter
accusative	ein	das	Mittelalter

Derived terms

• finsteres Mittelalter n
• mittelalterig
• mittelalterlich

 

Related terms

• Zeitalter

Descendants

• → Norwegian Bokmål: middelalder (calque)

Further reading

• “Mittelalter” in Duden online
• “Mittelalter” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache