848 MID 
MIDWAY, f. The part of the way equally difbmt 
from the beginning and end.—He were an excellent man 
that were made in the midway between him and Benedick; 
the one is too like an image, and fays nothing ; and the 
other too like my lady’s eldeft fon, evermore tattling. 
Shakefpeare's Much Ado. 
Pity and ffiarae ! that they, who to live well 
Stood fo fair, (hould turn afide to tread 
Paths indirect, or in the midway faint! Milton. 
MID'WAY, adj. Being in the middle between two 
places : 
How dizzy ’tis, to call one’s eyes fo low ! 
The crows and choughs that wing the midway air, 
Shew fcarce fo grofs as beetles. Shakefpeare. 
MID'WAY, adv. In the middle of the paffage : 
With dry eyes, and with an open look, 
She met his glance midway. Dryden's Hocca.ee. 
MID'WAY, a. town of the Hate of Georgia: thirty 
miles fouth of Savannah. 
MID'WAY, a town of the ftate of Vermont: four 
miles eaft of Rutland. 
MID'WIFE, f. [This is derived, both by Skinner, and 
Junius, from nub or meed, a reward, and the Sax. pip, 
wife. Johnfon. The interpretation of tips etymology, 
which Verftegan alfo gives, is, “ a woman of meed, de- 
ferving recompence.” But this feems a forced meaning. 
May not the word be more naturally derived from the 
Saxon prepofition mib, with, and pip, wife ; implying the 
wife or woman who is attendant upon, that is, with, the 
woman in childbirth ? Todd.] A woman who affills wo¬ 
men in childbirth.—I had as clear a notion of the relation 
of brothers between them, as if I had all the (kill of timid- 
wife. Locke. 
But no man, fure ! e’er left his houfe 
And faddled Ball with thoughts fo wild, 
To bring a midwife to his Ipoufe, 
Before he knew (he was with child. Prior. 
As the praftice of midwifery was, until very lately, 
entirely confined to women, we have no term by which 
to denominate a male pradfitioner, but the barbarous 
compounded one, man-midwife. Indeed no language that 
we are acquainted with has a primitive word for a male 
praftitioner in this art. The Hebrew mid wives were all 
female, as far as we may judge by the facred text. In 
Greek, we find Hippocrates feminizing an old-fafliioned 
word applied to a healer, and even to a botcher; and other 
writers ufing a term as often applied to the nurl’e. The 
noun ohjletrix, in Latin, has, we believe, no mafeuline. 
In modern languages, the Germans have two expreflions, 
both of which leem to refer to labour-pains or groanings, 
and both are feminine. The Italians have dropped the 
old Latin term, and ufe commere, which is indifferently 
applied to a nurfe or gofiip attending at thofe periods. 
The Portuguefe and Spaniards, who, next to the Italians, 
retain moft of the original Latin, have commadre, ufed in 
the fame fenfes, and alfo as a god-mother. They have, 
indeed, the term medico, or chirurgeon-parteiro ; but thefe 
are evidently of modern invention, from partire, or the 
Latin partum, fupine of pareo, to bring forth. The pro¬ 
per French term is Jage femme, fo called, not only on ac¬ 
count of her fuppoied knowledge, but becaufe (he is em¬ 
powered, in cafes of neceffity, to baptize. For this pur- 
pofe, (he does not always wait for the birth of the child ; 
but, if the labour is lingering, and on that account likely 
to prove fatal to the infant, it is, in many parts of the 
continent, baptized by dipping the midwife’s finger into 
water, which is brought into contact with any part of the 
child: the woman then pronounces In nomine patris. Sec. 
concluding by proclaiming “ The child is baptized.” Of 
late years the French have adopted the word accouchafc, 
M I E 
from the verb accouclier, to put to bed ; and, for the male 
practitioner, accoucheur; a term which we have now pretty 
generally adopted. Loud. Med. Journal, vol. xxxv. p. 85. 
7 o MID'WIFE, or Mid'wive, v. a. To affift in child¬ 
birth.—Without this ubiquity, how could (he be feen at 
harveft, wiping the faces of reaping monks, whilft (lie is 
elfewhere burning villages, or in a rich abby midwiving an 
abbefs, whom her Reward had unfortunately gotten with 
child ? Brevint's Saul and Sum. at Jdndor. — To produce.—• 
The foul, by the fame ftrength, as opportunities do mid¬ 
wife them out, brings forth chriftian foiritua! aftions. 
Hammond. —Two fevere fits of ficknefs di 1 midwive them 
[two difeourfes] into the world. Dalgamio'sDeaf and Dumb 
Maui's Tutor. 
This child of yours, born without fpurious blot. 
And fairly midwiv'd, as it was begot, 
Doth fo much of the parents’ goodnefs bear. 
You may be proud to own it for your heir. 
Bp. H. King's VerJ'es pref. to Sandys's Pfalnis. 
To MID'WIFE, t>. n. To perform the office of a mid¬ 
wife.—Where was the “ genius loci” when this difafter 
happened ? Perhaps in the office of Diana, when her tem¬ 
ple was burning, gone a midwifing. Warburton to Hurd. 
MID'WIFERY, Mid'wifry, or Mid'wivery, f. Af- 
fiftance given at childbirth.—Trade of a midwife.—Aft of 
production ; help to production ; co-operation in pro¬ 
duction. See the article Parturition. —Sharp inven¬ 
tions—begotten, or at leaft brought forth, by the mid¬ 
wifery of a pipe of good tobacco ! Bp. Taylor. —As to 
mental midwivery, and communication of our notions. 
Whitlock. —There was never any thing propounded for 
public good, that did not meet with oppofition ; arifing 
from the humour of fuch as would have nothing brought 
into the world but by their own midwifry. Child's Dif% 
on Trade. 
So hafty fruits, and too-ambitious flowers. 
Scorning the midwifry of rip’ning (howers. 
In fpight of frofts Ipring from th’ unwilling earth. Stepney, 
MID'WIFISH, adj. A&ing the part of a midwife; be¬ 
fitting a midwife. JohnJ'on. 
MID'WINTER, f. The winter folftice; December the 
twenty-firft.—Chriftmas-day is frequently called, in our 
old monuments, midwinter-day, and midwinter-made: from 
whence, I fuppofe, it may reafonably be concluded, that, 
when that name was firft applied to that day, the day 
whereon Chriftmas fell was in the calendar either coinci¬ 
dent with, or not far removed from, the winter lolftice. 
Hammond. 
Begin when the (low waggoner defeends, 
Nor ceafe your fowing till Midwinter ends. Dryden. 
MIE'DES, a river of Spain, which runs into the Xalon, 
near Calataiud. 
MJEDNI'KI. See Medniki, p. 15. 
MIE'DZIAL, a town of Lithuania, in the palatinate 
of Wilna: fifty-two miles fouth of Brailaw. 
MIEnzIBOR'. See Mottelwalde. 
MIEDZINEC'ZE, a town of Poland, in the palatinate 
of Brzefk : twenty-two miles weft of Brzefk. 
MIEDZIRZEC'ZKA, a town of Poland, in the pala¬ 
tinate of Volhynia : fifty-two miles north-north-weft-of 
Zytomiers. 
MIEDZYRZEC'Z, a town of Lithuania, in the palati¬ 
nate of Novogrodek : forty-four miles weft-fouth-weft of 
Novogrodek. 
MIEDZYRZYC'Z, a town of Ruffian Poland, in the 
palatinate of Kiev : thirty-two miles weft-fouth-weft of 
Czyrkafy. 
MIE'GIA, f. [appears to have been named by Schreber 
in honour of two Swifs anaromifts and botanifts, who flou- 
riflied in the beginning and middle of the laft century. 
Moft probably they were father and (bn. John Rcdo/pk 
Mieg 
