(broadly) the period from the end of classical antiquity (or the deposition of the last W Roman emperor in 476 ad) to the Italian Renaissance (or the fall of Constantinople in 1453) (narrowly) the period from about 1000 ad to the 15th century
Compare Dark Ages
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
Mid•dle Ag•es /ˈmɪdəl ˈeɪdʒɪz/USA pronunciation n. [plural* the + ~]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- World Historythe time in European history from the late 5th century to about 1350.
Mid′dle Ag′es,
- World Historythe time in European history between classical antiquity and the Italian Renaissance (from about 500a.d. to about 1350): sometimes restricted to the later part of this period (after 1100) and sometimes extended to 1450 or 1500.
- plural of Middle Age, translation of Neo-Latin Medium Aevum 1715–25
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'Middle Ages' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Anglo-French
- Aristotelian logic
- Biblia Pauperum
- Biblical Latin
- Bogomil
- Bologna
- Brindisi
- Cluny
- Consolato del Mare
- Dark Ages
- Denmark
- Donatus
- Dubrovnik
- Dungeons and Dragons
- Feast of Fools
- Freemason
- Gabbai
- Genoa
- Georgia
- Germany
- Gothic
- Greece
- Halle
- Hama
- Harfleur
- Hormuz
- Italy
- Kalevala
- King's Lynn
- Kugelhopf
- Lincoln
- Linköping
- Lombardy
- Lund
- Medieval Latin
- Middelburg
- Newgate
- Norman
- Novgorod
- Old High German
- age
- aid
- alchemy
- antiquity
- astrolabe
- authentic
- bachelor
- baron
- barret
- benefice