Middle East

English

The Middle East (modern sense).

Etymology

Compound of middle +‎ east formed in English, modeled on Far East and Near East. Attested from the latter 19th century.

Proper noun

Middle East

1. (dated) The region between the Near East and the Far East.
   • 1920 April 21, House of Commons, quoting Austen Chamberlain, “Budget proposals, Committee of Ways and Means”, in The Parliamentary Debates, volume 128, page 455:

     Well, what may happen in the Middle East? I agree there are uncertainties, but when he was condemning the policy of the Government with regard to the Turkish peace, had he thought for a moment of the financial effect of the policy which he advocated?

2. The region comprising Southwest Asia and Northeast Africa.

Synonyms

• Mid East
• Mideast

Derived terms

• Greater Middle East
• Middle Eastern
• Middle Easterner

Translations

region comprising southwest Asia and northeast Africa

• Afrikaans: Midde-Ooste
• Amharic: መካከለኛው ምሥራቅ (mäkakäläñaw mśraḳ)
• Arabic: الشَّرْق الْأَوْسَط‎ m (aš-šarq al-ʾawsaṭ), مَشْرِق‎ m (mašriq)
• Armenian: Մերձավոր Արեւելք (Merjavor Arewelkʿ), Միջին Արեւելք (Miǰin Arewelkʿ)
• Azerbaijani: Orta Şərq
• Belarusian: Блі́зкі Усхо́д m (Blízki Usxód), Сярэ́дні Усхо́д m (Sjarédni Usxód)
• Bengali: মধ্যপ্রাচ্য (môddhôpracjô)
• Bulgarian: Бли́зък И́зток m (Blízǎk Íztok)
• Catalan: Orient Mitjà m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 中東 (zh), 中东 (zh) (Zhōngdōng)

• Crimean Tatar: Orta Şarq
• Czech: Blízký východ (cs) m, Střední východ m
• Danish: Mellemøsten (da)
• Dutch: Midden-Oosten (nl) n
• Esperanto: Mezoriento, Meza Oriento
• Finnish: Lähi-itä (fi)
• French: Moyen-Orient (fr)
• Georgian: ახლო აღმოსავლეთი (axlo aɣmosavleti), შუა აღმოსავლეთი (šua aɣmosavleti)
• German: Naher Osten (de) m, Mittlerer Osten m
• Greek: Μέση Ανατολή (el) f (Mési Anatolí)
• Hebrew: הַמִּזְרָח הַתִּיכוֹן‎ (he) (ha-mizráḥ ha-tikhón)
• Hindi: मध्य पूर्व (madhya pūrva), मध्यपूर्व (hi) m (madhyapūrva)
• Hungarian: Közel-Kelet (hu)
• Icelandic: Mið-Austurlönd
• Indonesian: Timur Tengah (id)
• Irish: an Meánoirthear m
• Italian: Medio Oriente
• Japanese: 中東 (ちゅうとう, Chūtō)
• Kalmyk: Өөрхн Дорд үзг (Öörxn Dord üzg)
• Kazakh: Орта Шығыс (Orta Şığıs)
• Khmer: មជ្ឈិមបូព៌ា (macchɨm boupiə)
• Korean: 중동 (Jungdong) (中東 (ko))
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji: Rojhilata Navîn (ku)

  Sorani: ڕۆژھەڵاتی ناوەڕاست‎ (rojhellatî nawerrast)

• Kyrgyz: Орто Чыгыш (Orto Çıgış)

• Lao: ຕາເວັນອອກກາງ (tā wen ’ǭk kāng)
• Low German: Nohe Ossen
• Macedonian: Бли́зок И́сток m (Blízok Ístok), Сре́ден И́сток m (Sréden Ístok)
• Malay: Timur Tengah
• Mongolian: Ойрхи Дорнод (Ojrhi Dornod)
• Norman: Mouoyen Orient m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Midtøsten (no)

  Nynorsk: Midtausten

• Pashto: منځنی ختيځ‎ m (manjanáy xatíj)
• Persian: خاورمیانه‎ (fa) (xâvar-e-miyâne)
• Polish: Bliski Wschód (pl), Środkowy Wschód (pl) m
• Portuguese: Oriente Médio (pt)
• Romanian: Orient Mijlociu n
• Russian: Сре́дний Восто́к m (Srédnij Vostók), Бли́жний Восто́к (ru) m (Blížnij Vostók)
• Scottish Gaelic: an Ear Mheadhan f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Блиски Исток m, Средњи Исток m

  Roman: Bliski Istok m, Srednji Istok m

• Slovak: Blízky východ m, Stredný východ m
• Slovene: Bližnji vzhod m, Srednji vzhod m
• Sotho: Botjhabela Bohare
• Spanish: Oriente Medio (es), Medio Oriente (es) m
• Swedish: Mellanöstern (sv)
• Tagalog: Gitnang Silangan
• Tajik: Ховари Миёна (Xovari Miyona)
• Tatar: Урта Көнчыгыш (Urta Könçığış)
• Thai: ตะวันออกกลาง (th) (dtà-wan-ɔ̀ɔk-glaang)
• Tibetan: ཤར་གླིང་དབུས་མ (shar gling dbus ma)
• Tigrinya: ማእከላይ ምብራቕ (maʾkälay mbraḳʰ)
• Turkish: Orta Doğu (tr)
• Turkmen: Orta Gündogar
• Ukrainian: Сере́дній Схід m (Serédnij Sxid), Бли́зький Схід m (Blýzʹkyj Sxid)
• Urdu: مشرق وسطی‎ (maśriq wasatī)
• Uyghur: ئوتتۇرا شەرق‎ (ottura sherq)
• Uzbek: Oʻrta Sharq
• Vietnamese: Trung Đông (vi) (中東)
• Welsh: Dwyrain Canol

References

• “Middle East, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2002.