English
Etymology
Middle English amidde, amiddes, on midden, from Old English on middan �in the middle�, from midd �central�. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a later addition, as in whilst, amongst, alongst. See mid.
Pronunciation
IPA: WEAE /��mɪdst/
audio|en-us-amidst.ogg|Audio (US)
Preposition
amidst
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among.
#* 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 4.
#*: Be a philosopher ; but amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.
Synonyms
amid
among
amongst
Usage notes
Amidst and amongst differ to some extent from each other, as will be
seen from their etymology. Amidst denotes in the midst or middle of, and hence
surrounded by; as, this work was written amidst many interruptions. Among and
amongst denote a mingling or intermixing with distinct or separable objects;
as, He fell among thieves. Blessed art thou among women. Hence, we
say, among the moderns, among the ancients, among the thickest of trees, among
these considerations, among the reasons I have to offer. Amid and amidst are
commonly used when the idea of separate or distinguishable objects is not
prominent. Hence, we say, they kept on amidst the storm, amidst the gloom, he
was sinking amidst the waves, he persevered amidst many difficulties; in none
of which cases could among be used. In like manner, Milton speaks of Abdiel,
The seraph Abdiel, faithful found; Among the faithless faithful only he,
because he was then considered as one of the angels. But when the poet adds,
From amidst them forth he passed, we have rather the idea of the angels as
a collective body.
Amidst and amongst are deprecated by style guides from both sides of the Altantic (TimesOnline? and The Guardian and Hansard (Canadian parliament). Use "amid" and "among". See the Talk page of Talk:whilst for the URLs (Sorry for the round about edit request, but the Wiktionary software has trapped this user into an endless round of arithmetic gateway questions.)
Translations
rfc-level|Translations at L3+ (AutoFormat? would have corrected level of Translations)
Portuguese:em meio
Italian: in mezzo
Spanish: en medio
Category:English prepositions
fr:amidst
io:amidst
hu:amidst
fi:amidst
vi:amidst
|
