German

Noun

Mittel n ‎(genitive Mittels, plural Mittel)

1. agent, appliance
2. means
   • 2010, Der Spiegel, issue 31/2010, page 56:

     Die Aufgabe eines Verteidigers besteht darin, für seine Mandanten mit allen Mitteln des Rechtsstaats zu kämpfen.

     The duty of a defense lawyer consists of fighting for his clients with all constitutional means.

3. medicament
4. (only plural) funds, capital
5. median
6. (uncountable, printing, dated) The middle of the 7 traditional sizes of German type, between Cicero and Tertia, standardized as 14 point and taken as roughly equivalent to "English" type.

Declension

Derived terms

• mittellos
• Mittel zum Zweck

Related terms

English

Noun

mittel ‎(uncountable)

1. (printing, German contexts, dated) Synonym of English.

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɪtl̩], [ˈmɪtəl]

Adjective

mittel ‎(comparative mittlerer, superlative am mittelsten)

1. (attributive, now archaic in the positive, see usage notes) middle, in the middle

   in mitt(e)ler Nacht, in mitteler Zeit, zum mittlen (Segen-)Tau

2. (informal, predicative, invariable) average, middling

   Wie ist die Klassenarbeit gelaufen? Na ja, so mittel.

Usage notes

The positive form mittel has largely fallen out of usage in modern German, occurring mostly in compound terms such as Mittelalter, Mittelpunkt, Mittelhochdeutsch, et cetera. The superlative is also uncommon. Mittlerer, which originated as the comparative form, is now used in places where one would expect the positive form.

Declension

compare the declension of mittlerer

or with the e elided

Derived terms

• Mittelalter
• Mittelgebirge
• mittelgroß
• Mittelhochdeutsch
• Mittelpunkt