Midterm

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈmɪdˌtɚm/

Definitions

1. A test or examination taken near the midpoint of an academic term ; an event or milestone occurring about halfway through a term or designated period
2. An assessment administered during the central part of a course to evaluate progress ; a notable time or occurrence within the middle section of a scheduled timeframe
3. An academic exam conducted in the middle of a study period ; a significant moment or checkpoint at the midpoint of a defined duration

Etymology: "Midterm" is a plain compound: "mid-" (middle) joined to "term," so it means something like "middle of a term." The first element traces back through Old English "midd" and Proto-Germanic "midjaz" to a root that also gave English "mid" and "midst." The second element comes from Latin "terminus," meaning a boundary or limit, which passed into Old French as "terme" and reached Middle English as "terme," with the sense of a fixed period of time, such as a school session or legal sitting. The word's history is therefore a join of two older words, one Germanic and one Latin. "Term" originally meant a limit or boundary in space and only later came to mean a stretch of time bounded by two ends, which is why a school year divided into periods came to be called a term. Putting "mid" in front of it simply names the point halfway through that bounded stretch.

Synonyms: interim, midway, middle

Antonyms: final, end