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The corpus record

μέσος

mesos

(in the) middle

Generated live from the audited corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Densest 12 of 145 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. μέσος · mesos — Beekes

μέσος [adj.} ‘(in the) middle’, of space, time, etc. 16 μέσον ‘centre’ (il.). <1E *med"io- ‘middle’> *VAR Compar. peoai-tepoc, superl. -tatoc (IA), after madaitepoc, etc; also μέσίσλατος (IL, Ar.), after ἔσχατος, etc; μεσσότατος (A. R., Man.). *DIAL Acol. μέσσος, Cret. Boeot. μέττος, COMP Very often as a first member, e.g. > μεσόδμη, » μεσημβρία; μεσαι-πόλιος ‘halfgrey, grizzled’ (N 361; cf. eg. ue0d-AevKoc), like … — [Beekes, s.v. μέσος, p. 986]

2. μέσος · mesos — Chantraine

μέσος : hom., éol., Sapho, etc., parfois chez Pi. ou dans les parties lyr. de trag., μέσσος, béot. (IG VII 2420) et crétois (cf. Bechtel, Gr. Dial. 2,697) μέττος : « qui est au milieu », dit de l'espace ou du temps (cf. μέσον up, μέσσαι νύκτες), «impartial, intermédiaire »; nombreux emplois du neutre substantivé avec prépositions (èv, εἰς, etc.), par exemple pour désigner l'espace qui sépare des armées, se dit aussi … — [Chantraine, s.v. μέσος, p. 705]

3. μέσος · mesos — Frisk

μέσος, ep. Ἰντ. 80]. μέσσος, kret. böot. μέττος “in der Mitte befindlich, mittlerer’, von Raum, Zeit, Größe usw., τὸ μέσον ‘die Mitte’ (seit Il.). Steigerungsformen: μεσαί-τερος, -rarog (ion. att.; nach παλαίτερος u.a.; Schwyzer 632), μέσ(σ)γατος (Π., Ar. u.a.; nach ἔσχατος usw.), μεσσάτιος (Kall. u.a.; wie ἐσχάτιος), ueodriov N. eines Riemens (Poll.; vgl. μέσαβον); μεσσότατος (A.R., Man.). Sehr oft als Vorderglied, … — [Frisk, s.v. μέσος, p. 1186]

4. μέσος · mesos — Frisk

μέσος. Mit dem alten Superlativ in aw. maösma-, got. miduma verbindet Rix Beitr. z. Namenforsch. 3 (1951-1952) 243-255 Medma Ort und Fluß in Bruttium (illyr. od. ausono-sikulisch). Über andere Flußnamen auf Med- Krahe ebd. 4 (1953) 236 ff. — [Frisk, s.v. μέσος, p. 2278]

5. μέσος · mesos — LSJ

middle, in the middle

middle, in the middle,

I middle, zenith, mid, mid, middle, middle point, midmost, central, central, centre

of Space, esp. with Nouns, of the middle point or part, μ. σάκος Il. 7.258; ἱστίον 1.481; οὐρανός zenith, Od. 4.400; μ. ἀπήνης from mid chariot, S. OT 812; ἐν αἰθέρι μ. in mid-air, Id. Ant. 416; μ. μετώπῳ in the middle of the forehead, PRyl. 128.30 (i A. D.): in Prose freq. preceding the Art., κατὰ μέσον τὸν σταθμόν X. An. 1.7.14; ἐν μ. τῇ χώρᾳ ib. 2.1.11; ἐκ μ. τῆς νήσου, κατὰ μ. τὴν νῆσον, Pl. Criti. 113d, 119d; ἐπὶ μέσου τοῦ τμάματος at the middle point of the segment, Archim. Aequil. 1.6; ἁ

b by the middle, by the waist

with a Verb, ἔχεται μ. by the middle, by the waist, prov. from the wrestling-ring, Ar. Eq. 387 (lyr.), cf. Ach. 571 (lyr.), Nu. 1047, Ra. 469; μέσην λαβόντα Id. Ach. 274, cf. Hdt. 9.107, D. 53.17; ὁ πέπλος ἐρράγη μ. Philippid. 25.5.

c midway between

c. gen., midway between, ἑνὸς καὶ πλήθους τὸ ὀλίγον μ. Pl. Plt. 303a (also μ. ἐπʼ ἀμφότερα, ibid.):—S. has μέσος ἀπὸ [τοῦ κρατῆρος] τοῦ τε πέτρου OC 1595.

2 mid, middle

of Time, Hom. only in phrase μέσον ἦμαρ midday, Il. 21.111, Od. 7.288, Pi. P. 9.113; μέσαι νύκτες Sapph. 52, Hdt. 4.181, X. An. 7.8.12, etc.; θέρευς ἔτι μέσσου ἐόντος Hes. Op. 502; χειμῶνος μέσου Ar. Fr. 569.1; μ. ἡμέρα Hdn. 8.5.9; μ. ἡλικία middle age, Pl. Ep. 316c: so μέσοι τὴν ἡλικίαν E. Ep. 5; μέσος ἀκμῆς v.l. in Theoc. 25.164.

3 impartial

metaph., impartial, Th. 4.83, PLond. 1.113(1).27 (vi A.D.).

b intermediate, indeterminate, things indifferent

intermediate, freq. c. gen., μ. τις γέγονα χρηματιστὴς τοῦ τε πάππου καὶ τοῦ πατρός Pl. R. 330b; ψιλὸν μὲν τὸ π̄, δασὺ δὲ τὸ φ̄, μέσον δὲ ἀμφοῖν τὸ β̄ D.H. Comp. 14 (v. infr. d); ἡ τρίτη καὶ μ. τῶν εἰρημένων δυεῖν ἁρμονιῶν ib. 24; ὁ μ. χαρακτήρ ib. 21; indeterminate, Luc. Par. 28; τὰ μ. things indifferent (neither good nor bad), Stoic. 3.135, al.; of words such as τύχη, EM 626.38; ζῴδια (neither lucky nor unlucky) Vett.Val. 93.9; μ. δίαιτα Diocl. Fr. 141, cf. Sor. 1.46.

c middle, middle

Gramm., of Verbs, middle, Eust. 1846.30, etc.; μ. διάθεσις, σχήματα, A.D. Synt. 226.10, 210.18; μ. ἐνεστώς present middle, ib. 278.25.

d semi-vowels, circumflex

Gramm., of consonants, Lat. mediae, i. e. β̄γ̄δ̄, D.T. 631.23: but also of semi-vowels, Pl. Phlb. 18c: of accent, ὀξύτητι καὶ βαρύτητι καὶ τῷ μέσῳ, i. e. the circumflex, Arist. Po. 1456b33.

II middling, moderate

middling, moderate,

1 of middle height

of size, μέσοι ὀφθαλμοί, ὦτα, γλῶττα, Id. HA 492a8, 33, b31; μ. μεγέθει ib. 496a21, PPetr. 1p.37 (iii B. C.); μ. alone, of middle height, PGrenf. 2.23 (a) ii 3 (ii B. C.), POxy. 73.13 (i A. D.), etc.

2 of middle rank, mediocre, fairly

of class or quality, πάντων μέσʼ ἄριστα Thgn. 335; παντὶ μέσῳ τὸ κράτος θεὸς ὤπασεν A. Eu. 529 (lyr.); μ. ἐν πόλει Phoc. 12; μ. ἀνήρ a man of middle rank, Hdt. 1.107; μ. πολίτης Th. 6.54; τὰ μ. τῶν πολιτῶν Id. 3.82 (so τῶν ἀνὰ πόλιν τὰ μ. Pi. P. 11.52); οἱ μ., between οἱ εὔποροι and οἱ ἄποροι, Arist. Pol. 1289b31, 1295b3; οἱ μ. πολῖται ib. 1296a19; τὸ μ. ib. 1295b37; μ. [πολιτεία] ib. 1296a7; ὁ μ. βίος Luc. Luct. 9; mediocre, Pl. Prt. 346d; τῶν ἑταιρῶν αἱ μ. Theopomp.Com. 21. Adv. μέσως, ἱκανόν

III midst, intervening space

μέσον, τό, midst, intervening space, mostly with Preps.,

a in the midst, middle, went between, intervening, between, mid, offered for competition, deposited, collectively, in the way of, obstacle

ἐν μέσσῳ, = ἐν μεταιχμίῳ, Il. 3.69, 90; ἐν τῷ μ. in the midst, Ev.Matt. 14.6; ἡ ʼν μέσῳ [μοῖρα] σῴζει πόλεις the middle class, E. Supp. 244: without ἐν, ἔμβαλε μέσσῳ Il. 4.444; ἔνθορε μέσσῳ 21.233; μέσσῳ ἀμφοτέρων 3.416, 7.277; τῶνδέ τʼ ἐν μ. πεσεῖν E. Ph. 583; ἐν μ. λόγους ἔχειν Id. Hel. 630; μῆκος ἐν μ. χρόνου A. Supp. 735; χρόνος οὑν μ. E. Ph. 589 (troch.); τὰ ἐν μ. what went between, S. OC 583; οἱ ἐν μ. λόγοι the intervening words, Id. El. 1364, E. Med. 819; κλίνης ἐν μ. Id. Hec. 1150; ἐν μ.

b deposited, as a prize, publicly, in common to all

ἐς μέσον, ἐς μ. ἀμφοτέρων, freq. in Hom. for ἐς μεταίχμιον, Il. 4.79, 6.120; ἀνδρὶ δὲ νικηθέντι γυναῖκʼ ἐς μέσσον ἔθηκε deposited her as a prize (cf. supr. a), 23.704; ἐς μ. δεικνύναι τινί τι Pi. Fr. 42.3; ἐς μ. ἵεσθαι, ἐλθεῖν, παρελθεῖν, S. Tr. 514 (lyr.), Theoc. 22.183, Plu. Agis 9; ἐς μέσον ἀμφοτέροισι . . δικάσσατε Il. 23.574; ἐς τὸ μ. φέρειν bring forward publicly, Hdt. 4.97, D. 18.139; ἐς τὸ μ. λέγεσθαι Hdt. 6.129; ἐς μ. Πέρσῃσι καταθεῖναι τὰ πρήγματα to give up the power in common to all,

c away, a half, in the middle

ἐκ τοῦ μέσου away, ἐκ μ. ἀνελεῖν D. 10.36, 18.294; [χειρόγραφον] ἦρκεν ἐκ τοῦ μ. Ep.Col. 2.14, cf. Arr. Epict. 3.3.15; also ἐκ μ. a half, ἔτη ὀκτὼ καὶ ἔνατον ἐκ μ. Th. 4.133; also ἐκ μ. κατῆστο remained in the middle, i. e. neutral (cf. ἐκ I.6 fin.), Hdt. 3.83, cf. 4.118, 8.22, 73.

d between, intervene, middle, moderates, middle, interim, use of parenthesis

διὰ μέσου between, τὸ διὰ μ. ἔθνος Id. 1.104; διὰ μ. ποιεῖσθαι X. Cyr. 6.3.3; διὰ μ. γενέσθαι intervene, of an event, Th. 4.20: c. gen., διὰ μέσου τῆς πόλεως ῥεῖ ποταμός X. An. 1.2.23; διὰ μ. ῥεῖ τούτων ποταμός ib. 1.4.4, etc.; τὸ τούτων διὰ μ. Pl. Lg. 805e; also οἱ διὰ μέσου the middle party, the moderates, Th. 8.75, X. HG 5.4.25; τὸ διὰ μ. the middle class, Arist. Pol. 1296a8; of Time, ὁ διὰ μ. χρόνος Hdt. 9.112; ἡ διὰ μ. ξύμβασις an interim agreement, Th. 5.26; διὰ μέσου, as a figure of speec

e in the midst, midway between

ἀν (ὀν) τὸ μ. in the midst, Alc. 18.3, Xenoph. 1.11, Thgn. 839; ἀνὰ μέσον midway between, Arist. HA 496a22, Antiph. 13, Theoc. 22.21, etc.; ἀνὰ μ. τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ GDI 2010 (Delph.), cf. PTeb. 13.9 (ii B. C.), al.; θρὶξ ἀνὰ μέσσον Theoc. 14.9; ἀνὰ μέσσα Nic. Th. 167; also ἀνὰ μέσον φέρε, = μετρίως, Men. 531.18.

f between

κατὰ μέσσον, = ἐν μέσῳ, Il. 5.8, 16.285, etc.: c. gen., κὰδ δὲ μέσον τάφρου καὶ τείχεος ἷζον between, 9.87.

2 difference, the average, the difference, middle course

μέσον, τό, difference, τὸ μ. πρὸς τὰς μεγίστας καὶ ἐλαχίστας the average between . . , Th. 1.10; πολλὸν τὸ μ., πολὺ τὸ μ., the difference is great, Hdt. 1.126, E. Alc. 914 (anap.); τὸ μ. οὐδὲν τῆς ἔχθρης ἐστί there is no middle course for our enmity, Hdt. 7.11.

3 middle state, mean, in the, mean

middle state, mean, τὸ μ. καὶ τὸ εὖ Arist. EN 1109b26; ποιήματα μέσα, opp. ὀγκώδη, in the (correct) mean, Phld. Po. 5.5. Adv. -ως, ἀναστρέφεσθαι Id. Rh. 1.155S.

4 the middle term

in Logic, τὸ μ. the middle term of a syllogism, opp. τὰ ἄκρα, Arist. APr. 66a30; also ὁ μ. (sc. ὅρος) ib. 25b33.

5 middle, mean proportional, medial, medial

Math., middle terms in a proportion, Euc. 6.16; μέση, or μέση (μέσος) ἀνάλογον a mean proportional (straight line or number), ib. 13, 17, 8.11, 12, al.; μέσης εὕρεσις Arist. de An. 413a19, Metaph. 996b21; μέση medial, a specific kind of irrational (straight line), Euc. 10.21, al.; μέσον ὀρθογώνιον (χωρίον) medial rectangle (area), ib. 24, al.

6 ecliptic, equator

Astron., ὁ διὰ μέσων τῶν ζῳδίων κύκλος the ecliptic, Hipparch. 1.9.3, 4, Gem. 2.21, Ptol. Alm. 2.7: without κύκλος, Eudox. ap. Arist. Metaph. 1073b20, Hipparch. 1.9.12; simply, ὁ διὰ μέσων D.L. 7.146; but, ὁ μέσος [κύκλος] the equator of a rotating sphere, Arist. Metaph. 1073b30.

7

μέσα, τά, = μέζεα, Blaes. p.191 K.

b

= κοιλία I.3, Herod.Med. ap. Orib. 5.27.3, Gal. 14.732: sg., Heph.Astr. 1.1 (v.l. τὰ μέσα Cat.Cod.Astr. 8(2).45).

8

Μέσον, τό, one of the law-courts at Athens, Phot., Sch. Ar. V. 120.

9 ordinary

οὐ τοῖς μέσοις τῆς βίας χρωμένη no ordinary force, Hierocl. p.15 A.

IV

μέση, ἡ, as Subst., v. μέση.

V in the middle, between, in the midst of

Adv. μέσον, Ep. μέσσον, in the middle, Il. 12.167, Od. 14.300: c. gen., between, οὐρανοῦ μ. χθονός <τε> E. Or. 983 (lyr.), cf. Arr. Epict. 2.22.10; in the midst of, μ. τῆς θαλάσσης LXX Ex. 14.27; μ. γενεᾶς σκολιᾶς Ep.Phil. 2.15: also in pl., μέσα αἰετὸς οὐρανοῦ ποτᾶται E. Rh. 530 (lyr.), cf. Nic. Fr. 74.26.

2 in a moderate degree, a little, in the mean, in a middle way, in an intermediate way

regul. Adv. μέσως, πόλεώς τʼ οὐ μ. εὐδαίμονος E. Andr. 873, cf. Hec. 1113, Isoc. 9.23; καὶ μ. even in a moderate degree, even a little, Th. 2.60; μ. ἔχειν πρός or περί τι to be in the mean . . , Arist. EN 1105b28, 1119a11; θερμότερον ἢ κραυρότερον ἢ μ. ἔχον Eub. 7.1, cf. Sosip. 1.53; μ. βεβιωκέναι in a middle way, i. e. neither well nor ill, Pl. Phd. 113d; μ. μεθύων Men. 226; μ. διατιθέναι in an intermediate way, D.H. Comp. 14.

b in the middle voice

Gramm., in the middle voice, A.D. Synt. 276.21.

VI

irreg. Comp. μεσαίτερος Pl. Prm. 165b: Sup. μεσαίτατος Hdt. 4.17, Arist. Mu. 392b33, Gem. 9.3, etc.; poet. μεσσότατος A.R. 4.649, Man. 6.373. (Cf. Skt. mádhyas ‘middle’, Lat. medius, etc.)

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Where it came from

  • Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) Treated in Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) s.v. μέσος (scan p. 986; entry #4034).
  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. μέσος (scan pp. 705-706; entry #5225).
  • Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. μέσος (scan pp. 1186-1187; entry #3836). Root candidates: *midjunga-.

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