Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Middle \Mid"dle\, a. [OE. middel, AS. middel; akin to D. middel,
   OHG. muttil, G. mittel. ????. See {Mid}, a.]
   1. Equally distant from the extreme either of a number of
      things or of one thing; mean; medial; as, the middle house
      in a row; a middle rank or station in life; flowers of
      middle summer; men of middle age.

   2. Intermediate; intervening.

            Will, seeking good, finds many middle ends. --Sir J.
                                                  Davies.

   Note: Middle is sometimes used in the formation of
         selfexplaining compounds; as, middle-sized,
         middle-witted.

   {Middle Ages}, the period of time intervening between the
      decline of the Roman Empire and the revival of letters.
      Hallam regards it as beginning with the sixth and ending
      with the fifteenth century.

   {Middle class}, in England, people who have an intermediate
      position between the aristocracy and the artisan class. It
      includes professional men, bankers, merchants, and small
      landed proprietors

            The middle-class electorate of Great Britain. --M.
                                                  Arnold.

   {Middle distance}. (Paint.) See {Middle-ground}.

   {Middle English}. See {English}, n., 2.

   {Middle Kingdom}, China.

   {Middle oil} (Chem.), that part of the distillate obtained
      from coal tar which passes over between 170[deg] and
      230[deg] Centigrade; -- distinguished from the light, and
      the heavy or dead, oil.

   {Middle passage}, in the slave trade, that part of the
      Atlantic Ocean between Africa and the West Indies.

   {Middle post}. (Arch.) Same as {King-post}.

   {Middle States}, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
      Delaware; which, at the time of the formation of the
      Union, occupied a middle position between the Eastern
      States (or New England) and the Southern States. [U.S.]

   {Middle term} (Logic), that term of a syllogism with which
      the two extremes are separately compared, and by means of
      which they are brought together in the conclusion.
      --Brande.

   {Middle tint} (Paint.), a subdued or neutral tint.
      --Fairholt.

   {Middle voice}. (Gram.) See under {Voice}.

   {Middle watch}, the period from midnight to four A. M.; also,
      the men on watch during that time. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.

   {Middle weight}, a pugilist, boxer, or wrestler classed as of
      medium weight, i. e., over 140 and not over 160 lbs., in
      distinction from those classed as {light weights}, {heavy
      weights}, etc.

Passage \Pas"sage\, n. [F. passage. See {Pass}, v. i.]
   1. The act of passing; transit from one place to another;
      movement from point to point; a going by, over, across, or
      through; as, the passage of a man or a carriage; the
      passage of a ship or a bird; the passage of light; the
      passage of fluids through the pores or channels of the
      body.

            What! are my doors opposed against my passage!
                                                  --Shak.

   2. Transit by means of conveyance; journey, as by water,
      carriage, car, or the like; travel; right, liberty, or
      means, of passing; conveyance.

            The ship in which he had taken passage. --Macaulay.

   3. Price paid for the liberty to pass; fare; as, to pay one's
      passage.

   4. Removal from life; decease; departure; death. [R.]
      ``Endure thy mortal passage.'' --Milton.

            When he is fit and season'd for his passage. --Shak.

   5. Way; road; path; channel or course through or by which one
      passes; way of exit or entrance; way of access or transit.
      Hence, a common avenue to various apartments in a
      building; a hall; a corridor.

            And with his pointed dart Explores the nearest
            passage to his heart.                 --Dryden.

            The Persian army had advanced into the . . .
            passages of Cilicia.                  --South.

   6. A continuous course, process, or progress; a connected or
      continuous series; as, the passage of time.

            The conduct and passage of affairs.   --Sir J.
                                                  Davies.

            The passage and whole carriage of this action.
                                                  --Shak.

   7. A separate part of a course, process, or series; an
      occurrence; an incident; an act or deed. ``In thy passages
      of life.'' --Shak.

            The . . . almost incredible passage of their
            unbelief.                             --South.

   8. A particular portion constituting a part of something
      continuous; esp., a portion of a book, speech, or musical
      composition; a paragraph; a clause.

            How commentators each dark passage shun. --Young.

   9. Reception; currency. [Obs.] --Sir K. Digby.

   10. A pass or en encounter; as, a passage at arms.

             No passages of love Betwixt us twain henceforward
             evermore.                            --Tennyson.

   11. A movement or an evacuation of the bowels.

   12. In parliamentary proceedings:
       (a) The course of a proposition (bill, resolution, etc.)
           through the several stages of consideration and
           action; as, during its passage through Congress the
           bill was amended in both Houses.
       (b) The advancement of a bill or other proposition from
           one stage to another by an affirmative vote; esp.,
           the final affirmative action of the body upon a
           proposition; hence, adoption; enactment; as, the
           passage of the bill to its third reading was delayed.
           ``The passage of the Stamp Act.'' --D. Hosack.

                 The final question was then put upon its
                 passage.                         --Cushing.

   {In passage}, in passing; cursorily. ``These . . . have been
      studied but in passage.'' --Bacon.

   {Middle passage}, {Northeast passage}, {Northwest passage}.
      See under {Middle}, {Northeast}, etc.

   {Of passage}, passing from one place, region, or climate, to
      another; migratory; -- said especially of birds. ``Birds
      of passage.'' --Longfellow.

   {Passage hawk}, a hawk taken on its passage or migration.

   {Passage money}, money paid for conveyance of a passenger, --
      usually for carrying passengers by water.