Middle East
English
![](Images/wiktionary/Middle_East_(orthographic_projection).svg.png.webp)
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
- (geopolitics) 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?
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- (geopolitics) The region comprising West Asia without the South Caucasus and additionally including all of Egypt (not just the Sinai) and all of Turkey (not just Asian Turkey).
Synonyms
- Mideast
Derived terms
- Greater Middle East
- MENA
- Middle Eastern
- Middle Easterner
Translations
region comprising Western Asia without the South Caucasus and additionally including all of Egypt and all of Turkey
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References
- “Middle East, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2002.