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History vocabulary · Periods and Eras

Middle Ages

Meaning in history, with examples

/ˌmɪdl ˈeɪdʒɪz/nounCore term

In history, Middle Ages means: The period of European history between the end of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century and roughly the late fifteenth century.

In Turkish: Orta Çağ

How it is used

Always plural with the and capitals: in the Middle Ages; it is often divided into the early, high and late Middle Ages. The adjective is medieval. Historians increasingly ask whether this European term fits other regions, so some simply give dates.

Example sentences

  1. For most of the Middle Ages, reading and writing were skills of a small minority.

  2. In the late Middle Ages, merchant cities such as Venice and Genoa controlled much of Mediterranean trade.

Common collocations

  • in the Middle Ages
  • the late Middle Ages
  • the early Middle Ages
  • the High Middle Ages
  • medievalBelonging to or typical of the Middle Ages, roughly the period from the fifth to the late fifteenth century.
  • feudalismA term for the social and political order of medieval Europe in which lords granted land to vassals in return for loyalty and military service, while peasants worked the land.
  • antiquityThe ancient past, especially the age of the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern civilizations before the Middle Ages; also an object surviving from that time.
  • RenaissanceThe cultural movement in Europe from about the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, starting in Italy, marked by renewed interest in ancient Greek and Roman learning and art.
  • periodizationThe dividing of the past into named periods, such as antiquity and the Middle Ages, and the debate about where the boundaries between them should fall.

More terms: Periods and Eras

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