Mediterranean

How to spell mediterranean

13 letters · 6 syllables

How to pronounce mediterranean

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does mediterranean mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to the Mediterranean Sea or to the regions, climate, and cuisine surrounding it.

Mediterranean in a sentence

• The restaurant serves a mediterranean menu of olive oil, grilled fish, and fresh herbs.

• Doctors often recommend a mediterranean diet to lower the risk of heart disease.

Where does mediterranean come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin mediterraneus, which literally meant 'in the middle of the land' or 'inland', built from medius meaning 'middle' and terra meaning 'land' or 'earth'. The Romans applied it to the great sea at the centre of their known world, the body of water hemmed in by Europe, Africa, and Asia, calling it the sea in the midst of the lands. English took the word up in the 1500s, first in the geographical sense and later as an adjective for the region's warm climate, cuisine, and way of life. The same terra root sits inside everyday relatives such as 'terrain', 'territory', and 'terrace', while medius survives in 'medium' and 'median'. The chief spelling trap is the doubled r in 'terr' set against a single d, followed by the deceptive '-anean' ending where an unstressed run of vowels hides which letters belong.

How the word is built

• medi- (from medius: middle)
• terr (from terra: land, earth)
• -anean (adjective suffix meaning 'pertaining to')