Etymograph

English

maidan

Maidan comes from Persian میدان ‘town-square or central place of gathering’, from Proto-Iranian *mádyah ‘middle’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *me ‘near, by, with’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*me1‘near, by, with’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*médʰyos2‘middle’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*mádʰyas3‘middle’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Iranianprehistoric (reconstructed)*mádyah3‘middle’reconstructed
  5. Proto-Iranianprehistoric (reconstructed)*madyānah3reconstructed
  6. Arabicc. 500–presentمَيْدَان3maydān‘square’
  7. Persianc. 900–presentمیدان3meydân, maydān‘town-square or central place of gathering’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1924maidan3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-Iranian *mádʰyas
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English maidan
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India: “Inland, the prospect alters. There is an oval maidan,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meWiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos‘near, by, with’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*médʰyosWiktionary, Proto-Indo-Iranian *mádʰyas‘middle’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*mádʰyasWiktionary, English maidan‘middle’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Iranianprehistoric (reconstructed)*mádyahWiktionary, English maidan‘middle’reconstructed
  5. Proto-Iranianprehistoric (reconstructed)*madyānahWiktionary, English maidanreconstructed
  6. Arabicc. 500–presentمَيْدَانWiktionary, English maidanmaydān‘square’
  7. Persianc. 900–presentمیدانWiktionary, English maidanmeydân, maydān‘town-square or central place of gathering’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1924maidanWiktionary, English maidan. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India: “Inland, the prospect alters. There is an oval maidan,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *me ‘near, by, with’

median, mediation, mediator, mediate, 21 more

through Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos ‘middle’

media, mean, medium, mid, medal, midst, demi, mezzanine, moiety, medulla, meso, medio, moyen, intermezzo, 32 more

Another origin of maidan

  1. Proto-Iranianprehistoric (reconstructed)*mádyanah‘middle’reconstructed
  2. Arabicc. 500–presentمَيْدَان‘square’
  3. Ottoman Turkishc. 1300–1928میدانmeydan‘square, plaza’
  4. Ukrainianmodernмайда́нmajdán‘square’
  5. Englishtodaymaidan

Today it means

noun A marketplace or other open space in or by a city or town; an esplanade.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “maidan”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos, Proto-Indo-Iranian *mádʰyas. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *me / maidan

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