midwinter

English

Alternative forms

• mid-winter

Etymology

From Middle English midwinter, from Old English midwinter, from Proto-West Germanic *midiwintru, from Proto-Germanic *midjawintruz (“midwinter”), equivalent to mid- +‎ winter. Cognate with West Frisian midwinter (“midwinter”), Dutch midwinter (“midwinter”), German Mittwinter (“midwinter”), Danish midvinter (“midwinter”), Swedish midvinter (“midwinter”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌmɪdˈwɪntə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

midwinter (countable and uncountable, plural midwinters)

1. The middle of winter.
   • 1961 October, “The winter timetables of British Railways: Western Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 590:

     Except for the mid-winter period, when the 11.30 a.m. from Paddington and its opposite number will be withdrawn - Torquay now has seven daily expresses to and from Paddington as compared with five down and six up previously.

2. The winter solstice; about December 21st or 22nd.

Antonyms

• midsummer

Derived terms

Derived terms

• midwinter day, midwinter's day
• midwinter eve, midwinter even, midwinter's eve, midwinter's even
• mid-winterly
• midwinter month
• midwinter night, midwinter's night
• midwinter tide, midwinter's tide
• mid-wintry

Translations

the middle of winter

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: midwinter (nl) m
• Finnish: keskitalvi
• French: milieu de l’hiver
• German: only circumlocutions, e.g. tiefster Winter, Mitte des Winters
• Maori: whaturua, Maruaroa o te Takurua
• Navajo: haiʼííłnííʼ
• Polish: środek zimy m
• Portuguese: pleno inverno m
• Romanian: miezul iernii (ro) n
• Russian: середи́на зимы f (seredína zimy)
• Spanish: pleno invierno m
• Swedish: midvinter (sv) c
• Welsh: canol gaeaf m

the winter solstice

• Bulgarian: зимно слънцестоене n (zimno slǎncestoene)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: midwinter (nl) m
• Finnish: talvipäivänseisaus (fi)
• French: solstice d’hiver (fr)
• German: Wintersonnenwende (de) f
• Polish: przesilenie zimowe n
• Portuguese: solstício do inverno m
• Russian: зимнее солнцестоя́ние n (zimneje solncestojánije)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can
• Swedish: vintersolstånd (sv) n

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch middewinter, from Old Dutch [Term?], from Proto-West Germanic *midiwintru. Equivalent to mid- +‎ winter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌmɪtˈʋɪn.tər/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mid‧win‧ter

Noun

midwinter m (plural midwinters)

1. midwinter

   Coordinate term: midzomer

   Met midwinter vierden de oude culturen de terugkeer van het licht. ― At midwinter, ancient cultures celebrated the return of the light.

   Vele feesten zijn gebaseerd op de midwinter tradities. ― Many festivals are based on midwinter traditions.

   De zon staat op zijn laagste punt tijdens midwinter. ― The sun is at its lowest point during midwinter.

2. winter solstice, midwinter

Derived terms

• midwinterhoorn

 

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *midjaz wintruz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmidˌwin.ter/

Noun

midwinter m

1. the middle of winter; midwinter, Christmas
   • c. 992, Ælfric, "The First Sunday of the Lord's Advent"

     Þēos tīd oþ midne winter is ġecweden Adventus Dominī, þæt is "Dryhtnes tōcyme."

     This time until midwinter is called Adventus Domini, that is "the coming of the Lord."

Usage notes

• In cases other than the strong nominative singular, the prefix usually becomes the adjective midd and is inflected: Ne bēoþ nāne wilde blostman on midne winter (“There are no wildflowers in the middle of winter”). Middæġ (“noon”), midniht (“midnight”), and midsumor (“midsummer”) work the same way.

Declension

Declension of midwinter (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	midwinter	midde wintras
accusative	midne winter	midde wintras
genitive	middes wintres	midra wintra
dative	middum wintra	middum wintrum

Derived terms

• middes wintres mæssedæġ

Descendants

• Middle English: midwinter
  • English: midwinter