midterm

See also: mid-term

English

Alternative forms

• mid-term

Etymology

From mid- +‎ term.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪdˌtɚm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

midterm (not comparable)

1. Halfway through a term, or roughly so.

   The administration is suffering from the usual midterm drop in approval ratings.

   • 2008 April 23, Amy Sullivan, “A Primary with No End”, in TIME‎^[1], archived from the original on 16 March 2014, retrieved 3 July 2015:

     Most of the rational world . . . foresaw a smooth ride to victory for Democrats. They had, after all, the wind at their backs from the 2006 midterm elections.

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with medium-term.

Derived terms

• midterm break
• midterm election

Translations

halfway through a term

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 期中 (zh) (qīzhōng), 中期 (zh) (zhōngqī)

• Czech: napůl cesty, v polovině
• Dutch: tussentijds (nl)
• Finnish: puoliväli (fi)
• French: (politics) mi-mandat (fr), (Quebec, education) mi-session
• German: Mitte (de) der Amtszeit (politics), Mitte (de) der Laufzeit, Mitte (de) des Semesters
• Hungarian: (politics) félidős (hu), (education) évközi (hu), félévi (hu), év közbeni
• Japanese: 中間 (ja) (ちゅうかん, chūkan)
• Korean: 중간 (ko) (junggan)
• Russian: среднесро́чный (ru) (srednesróčnyj)
• Spanish: parcial (es), de medio término, de medio ciclo, de medio semestre, de medio periodo, de medio período
• Turkish: dönem ortası, orta vade (politics), sömestr ortası

Noun

midterm (plural midterms)

1. (education) A midterm school exam (i.e., halfway through the term).

   Synonym: midterm examination

   I only got a C on the midterm, so I really have to study for the final.

   • 2005 April 13, Robert MacMillan, “Steal This Song”, in The Washington Post‎^[2], archived from the original on 7 September 2008, retrieved 3 Oct. 2008:

     It was tough cramming for those midterms and finals, staying up 72 hours straight hepped up on caffeine and pizza.

2. (politics) A midterm election.
   • 2025 July 27, Emma Marsden, “Donald Trump's Favorability Rating Falls With AAPI Adults”, in Newsweek‎^[3], archived from the original on 29 July 2025:

     The AAPI electorate has become more politically engaged in recent election cycles, and although it is not a voting bloc that has historically shown strong support for Trump, growing skepticism toward him could influence key battlegrounds in the 2026 midterms and beyond.

Translations

exam

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 期中考試 / 期中考试 (qīzhōng kǎoshì)

• Finnish: välikoe (fi)
• French: (France) partiel (fr) m
• German: Zwischenprüfung f
• Hungarian: évközi/zárthelyi dolgozat/teszt
• Icelandic: kaflapróf
• Japanese: 中間テスト (chūkan tesuto), 中間試験 (chūkan shiken)
• Lithuanian: kolokviumas
• Serbo-Croatian: kolokvij (sh) m, parcijalni ispit m
• Spanish: parcial (es) m, examen parcial m
• Turkish: ara sınav (tr), vize (tr)

Anagrams

• trimmed