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midland

midland

38 4.9
An area in the middle of a country away from the coast
  • noun
  • /ˈmɪd.lənd/
translation icon : interior
  • Traveling through the midlands, we discovered quaint towns rich in history.
  • areas in the Midlands
  • West Midlands
  • East Midlands

Examples

  • The case study presented here comprises two areas in the Midlands (Fig. 1).

    Academic text (1990)
  • We're in Dudley, a factory town in the English Midlands region known as the Black Country.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Look, the last time I spoke to them, they were in Midland, Texas.

  • The Midlands, central and South East England will be mostly dry -

  • The most interesting areas, however, were the Midlands and the South Coast.

    Academic text (1998)
  • She'd attended a convent school in Birmingham, a dark, industrial city in the English Midlands.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The four champions covered Sandwell in the West Midlands, Derbyshire, Hertfordshire, and Poole and rural Dorset.

    Academic text (2010)
  • The address to write to is 32 Little Sutton Lane, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands B75 6PB, UK.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The midland regions of the country are often overlooked in favor of coastal areas.

  • Residents of the midland areas enjoy a climate that is different from the coastal regions.

Synonyms

interior
vsmidland
4.0

In the land away from the coast

names an inner area rather than only describing location
Midlands
vsmidland
4.6

A central part of a country or region often seen as a separate area

is an interior area often away from coasts rather than centrally located

Compounds

East Midland
  • Archaic
9.9

A form of Middle English from the East Midlands that later forms the basis of Modern English

A form of Middle English spoken in western Mercia

How Inland

heartland
44 4.5
midland
38 4.9
inland
31 3.8
coast
506 1.0

Surface Forms

midland singular
midlands plural

Morphology

midland = mid + land (transparent) = mid + land

The meaning is a straightforward combination of 'mid' (middle) + 'land' (land/region), so learners can infer 'interior region'.

Etymology

Midland comes from the parts mid- ('middle') and land ('country' or 'ground'), so it literally means 'middle land'. A midland is the middle part of a country, far from the coast or the borders.