Middle English

noun

the English language of the period c1150–c1475. : ME, M.E.

Middle English

noun

See Modern English, Old English
the English language from about 1100 to about 1450: main dialects are Kentish, Southwestern (West Saxon), East Midland (which replaced West Saxon as the chief literary form and developed into Modern English), West Midland, and Northern (from which the Scots of Lowland Scotland and other modern dialects developed) ME Compare Old English Modern English

Middle English

The English language from about 1150 to about 1500. During this time, following the Norman Conquest of England , the native language of England — Old English — borrowed great numbers of words from the Norman French of the conquerors. Middle English eventually developed into modern English.

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Notes

Many of the writings in Middle English that have survived have word forms very different from those in modern English; today's readers of English cannot understand the language of these works without training. Some dialects of Middle English, however, resemble modern English, and a good reader of today can catch the drift of something written in them. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in one of these dialects.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of Middle English¹

First recorded in 1830–40

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Example Sentences

Their flight had nothing to do with who I really was—an über-nerd with a taste for Middle English and Old French.

From The Daily Beast

We can see this taking place, to a limited extent, in the transcripts of Middle English poems.

From Project Gutenberg

At the very beginning of the history of Middle English literature Orm attacked the problem of the verse translation very directly.

From Project Gutenberg

Of explicit comment on general principles, then, there is but a small amount in connection with Middle English translations.

From Project Gutenberg

In the same way the word high had in Middle English the superlative hexte.

From Project Gutenberg

In Middle English the became an article, and that remained a demonstrative adjective.

From Project Gutenberg

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April 25, 2024firkin

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