"world inhabited by men, in Gmc. cosmology (opposed to Asgard, the abode of the gods), 1882, from O.N. miðgarðr, from mið "mid" (see mid) + P.Gmc. *gardoz "enclosure, tract" (see yard (1)). The O.E. cognate was middangeard, which was later folk-etymologized as middle earth.