mediterranean
/ˌmɛdɪtəˈɹeɪnɪən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.99 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
6
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of or pertaining to the Mediterranean Sea and its surrounding region.
name
Ellipsis of the Mediterranean Sea: a sea between Europe and Africa, an inland branch of the Atlantic.
name
A region of Southern Europe and North Africa and West Asia. The region surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.
noun
Ellipsis of Mediterranean food, a style of food originating from the (often European or Near Eastern, as opposed to African) lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "vacationing in the Mediterranean"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *me Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *-dʰe Proto-Indo-European *médʰi Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos Proto-Italic *meðios Latin medius Proto-Indo-European *ters-der. Proto-Italic *terzā Latin terra Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Proto-Italic *-ānos Latin -ānus Proto-Indo-European *-éyos Proto-Italic *-ejos Proto-Italic *-eos Latin -eus Latin -āneus Latin mediterrāneus ▲ Latin -ānus Old French -ainder. Middle English -an English -an English Mediterranean From Latin mediterrāneus (“inland”, from medius (“middle”) + terra (“earth, land”) + -āneus (adjectival suffix)) + -an.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌmɛdɪtəˈɹeɪnɪən/
- British English: /ˌmɛdɪtəˈɹeɪni.ən/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Food.
Inflected Forms
more Mediterranean (comparative)
most Mediterranean (superlative)
the Mediterranean (canonical)
Mediterraneans (plural)