Middle West
1
3.2
- proper noun
- /ˈmɪdəl wɛst/
- US
:
Medio Oeste
- Among the best studies of rural institutions are three by Wayne E. Fuller: The Old Country School: The Story of Rural Education in the Middle West (Chicago: U Chicago P, 1982); One-Room Schools of the Middle West: An Illustrated History (Lawrence: U P of Kansas, 1994); and RFD: The Changing Face of Rural America (Bloomington: Indiana U P, 1964).
history out of the South, right out of the Appalachians into industrial employment in the Middle West.
- history out of the South, right out of the Appalachians into industrial employment in the Middle West.
Examples
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Many farmers in the Middle West grow corn and soybeans as their primary crops.
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I am the son of very wealthy people from the Middle West.
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... just back and resting from a successful tour of the Middle West.
Fiction book (1991) -
In his 1925 Yale University M.A. thesis, Leopoldo Ruiz reported: "In the large cities of the Middle West, we find an unusually heavy concentration of self-supporting students."
Academic text (1990) -
Among the best studies of rural institutions are three by Wayne E. Fuller: The Old Country School: The Story of Rural Education in the Middle West (Chicago: U Chicago P, 1982); One-Room Schools of the Middle West: An Illustrated History (Lawrence: U P of Kansas, 1994); and RFD: The Changing Face of Rural America (Bloomington: Indiana U P, 1964).
Academic text (1997) -
The Middle West is known for its rich agricultural land and vibrant communities.
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Tourists often visit the Middle West to experience its friendly culture and beautiful landscapes.
Synonyms
190
2.7
A north central part of the United States with many farms and small towns
44
4.5
A central part of a country that is the core of its culture and economy
1
2.7
A north-central part of the United States known for farms and rivers
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'middle' (central) + 'West' (western region) yields the central part of the western region, which maps onto the north-central US sense given. This is a straightforward geographic naming pattern (like 'Midwest') and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Middle West comes from early Americans who called land beyond the first eastern states the 'west', and this area sat in the middle of the growing country so people called it the Middle West. So today Middle West refers to the north-central states of the United States and is often thought of as the country's 'heartland' or farming 'breadbasket'.