Middle \Mid"dle\ (m[i^]d"d'l), a. [OE. middel, AS. middel; akin
   to D. middel, OHG. muttil, G. mittel. [root]271. See Mid,
   a.]
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   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.
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   2. Intermediate; intervening.
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            Will, seeking good, finds many middle ends. --Sir J.
                                                  Davies.
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   Note: Middle is sometimes used in the formation of
         self-explaining compounds; as, middle-sized,
         middle-witted.
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   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
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            The middle-class electorate of Great Britain. --M.
                                                  Arnold.
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   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.
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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[aum]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.
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            He with a manly voice saith his message. --Chaucer.
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            Her voice was ever soft,
            Gentle, and low; an excellent thing in woman.
                                                  --Shak.
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            Thy voice is music.                   --Shak.
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            Join thy voice unto the angel choir.  --Milton.
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   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.
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   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 aerial pulses within
         a given time, that is, on the rapidity of their
         succession. See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 5,
         146, 155.
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   3. The tone or sound emitted by anything.
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            After the fire a still small voice.   --1 Kings xix.
                                                  12.
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            Canst thou thunder with a voice like him? --Job xl.
                                                  9.
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            The floods have lifted up their voice. --Ps. xciii.
                                                  3.
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            O Marcus, I am warm'd; my heart
            Leaps at the trumpet's voice.         --Addison.
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   4. The faculty or power of utterance; as, to cultivate the
      voice.
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   5. Language; words; speech; expression; signification of
      feeling or opinion.
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            I desire to be present with you now, and to change
            my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. --Gal. iv.
                                                  20.
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            My voice is in my sword.              --Shak.
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            Let us call on God in the voice of his church. --Bp.
                                                  Fell.
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   6. Opinion or choice expressed; judgment; a vote.
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            Sic. How now, my masters! have you chose this man?
            1 Cit. He has our voices, sir.        --Shak.
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            Some laws ordain, and some attend the choice
            Of holy senates, and elect by voice.  --Dryden.
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   7. Command; precept; -- now chiefly used in scriptural
      language.
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            So shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient
            unto the voice of the Lord your God.  --Deut. viii.
                                                  20.
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   8. One who speaks; a speaker. "A potent voice of Parliament."
      --Tennyson.
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   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.
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   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.
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