What is "middle voice"

Middle \Mid"dle\ (m[i^]d"d'l), a. [OE. middel, AS. middel; akin to D. middel, OHG. muttil, G. mittel. [root]27

1. 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 self-explaining 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 oil, and the heavy oil 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.

Voice \Voice\, n. [OE. vois, voys, OF. vois, voiz, F. voix, L. vox, vocis, akin to Gr. ? a word, ? a voice, Skr. vac to say, to speak, G. erw["a]hnen to mention. Cf. Advocate, Advowson, Avouch, Convoke, Epic, Vocal, Vouch, Vowel.]

1. Sound uttered by the mouth, especially that uttered by human beings in speech or song; sound thus uttered considered as possessing some special quality or character; as, the human voice; a pleasant voice; a low voice.

   He with a manly voice saith his message.
   --Chaucer.

   Her voice was ever soft, Gentle, and low; an excellent thing in woman.
   --Shak.

   Thy voice is music.
   --Shak.

   Join thy voice unto the angel choir.
   --Milton.

2. (Phon.) Sound of the kind or quality heard in speech or song in the consonants b, v, d, etc., and in the vowels; sonant, or intonated, utterance; tone; -- distinguished from mere breath sound as heard in f, s, sh, etc., and also whisper.

   Note: Voice, in this sense, is produced by vibration of the so-called vocal cords in the larynx (see Illust. of Larynx) which act upon the air, not in the manner of the strings of a stringed instrument, but as a pair of membranous tongues, or reeds, which, being continually forced apart by the outgoing current of breath, and continually brought together again by their own elasticity and muscular tension, break the breath current into a series of puffs, or pulses, sufficiently rapid to cause the sensation of tone. The power, or loudness, of such a tone depends on the force of the separate pulses, and this is determined by the pressure of the expired air, together with the resistance on the part of the vocal cords which is continually overcome. Its pitch depends on the number of a["e]rial pulses within a given time, that is, on the rapidity of their succession. See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 5, 146, 155.

3. The tone or sound emitted by anything.

   After the fire a still small voice.
   --1 Kings xix. 12.

   Canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
   --Job xl. 9.

   The floods have lifted up their voice.
   --Ps. xciii. 3.

   O Marcus, I am warm'd; my heart Leaps at the trumpet's voice.
   --Addison.

4. The faculty or power of utterance; as, to cultivate the voice.

5. Language; words; speech; expression; signification of feeling or opinion.

   I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.
   --Gal. iv. 20.

   My voice is in my sword.
   --Shak.

   Let us call on God in the voice of his church.
   --Bp. Fell.

6. Opinion or choice expressed; judgment; a vote.

   Sic. How now, my masters! have you chose this man? 1 Cit. He has our voices, sir.
   --Shak.

   Some laws ordain, and some attend the choice Of holy senates, and elect by voice.
   --Dryden.

7. Command; precept; -- now chiefly used in scriptural language.

   So shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God.
   --Deut. viii. 20.

8. One who speaks; a speaker. ``A potent voice of Parliament.''
   --Tennyson.

9. (Gram.) A particular mode of inflecting or conjugating verbs, or a particular form of a verb, by means of which is indicated the relation of the subject of the verb to the action which the verb expresses.

   Active voice (Gram.), that form of the verb by which its subject is represented as the agent or doer of the action expressed by it.

   Chest voice (Phon.), a kind of voice of a medium or low pitch and of a sonorous quality ascribed to resonance in the chest, or thorax; voice of the thick register. It is produced by vibration of the vocal cords through their entire width and thickness, and with convex surfaces presented to each other.

   Head voice (Phon.), a kind of voice of high pitch and of a thin quality ascribed to resonance in the head; voice of the thin register; falsetto. In producing it, the vibration of the cords is limited to their thin edges in the upper part, which are then presented to each other.

   Middle voice (Gram.), that form of the verb by which its subject is represented as both the agent, or doer, and the object of the action, that is, as performing some act to or upon himself, or for his own advantage.

   Passive voice. (Gram.) See under Passive, a.

   Voice glide (Pron.), the brief and obscure neutral vowel sound that sometimes occurs between two consonants in an unaccented syllable (represented by the apostrophe), as in able (a"b'l). See Glide, n., 2.

   Voice stop. See Voiced stop, under Voiced, a.

   With one voice, unanimously. ``All with one voice . . . cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.''
   --Acts xix. 34.

n. (context grammar English) The form in which the subject of a verb performs some action upon itself.