Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • The region surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Several important ancient civilizations flourished in the region, which was dominated for centuries by Phoenicia, Carthage, Greece, Rome, and the Byzantine, Arab, and Ottoman empires.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to the Mediterranean Sea and the region around it.
  • proper noun The Mediterranean Sea.
  • proper noun The region surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin Mediterraneanus, from medius ("middle"), + terra ("earth, land") + -anus (adjectival suffix) + -eanus (adjectival suffix)

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Examples

  • EU/MEDITERRANEAN: MED UNION COUNTRIES LOOK TO EU FOR HELP Europolitics Copyright 2009 Europe Information Service All Rights Reserved Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef Boutros‐Ghali has said Mediterranean countries are counting on their Northern neighbours for support during the financial crisis.

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows soniabess 2009

  • The 185. 2-mile race along the Mediterranean is the longest on the calendar but has few daunting hills.

    Armstrong adjusts upcoming race schedule 2009

  • The Camargue region of France on the Mediterranean is a fascinating place but I´ll tell you what.

    Ajijic as Saintes Maries de la Mer 2009

  • The despoiling of one of the most beautiful areas of the Mediterranean is a disaster, the results of which will be felt for years — this in addition to the destruction of Beirut.

    Think Progress » An environmental disaster 2006

  • Many years before this time, the Romans, who came from the city of Rome in Italy, had won all the lands around the Great Sea, the sea which we call the Mediterranean; and above king Herod of Judea was the great king of Rome, ruling over all the lands, and over the land of

    The Wonder Book of Bible Stories Logan [Editor] Marshall

  • The Eastern end of the Mediterranean is a moderately friendly place.

    Palestine and the Middle East 1945

  • Now, as you know, the Mediterranean is a vital necessity to the British Empire.

    Democracy and World Affairs 1938

  • It has often been said, it has been said by a British Cabinet Minister of the United Kingdom, that the Mediterranean is a vital artery of British commerce and a vital artery, indeed, of the British Commonwealth of Nations.

    Problems of the British Empire 1937

  • Mediterranean from the hills of Asia, and hailed with rapture the boundary of their toils.

    Chapter 24 2010

  • “But in my experience, at least, the difference in skin color between “white” European Mediterranean people (from, for example, southern France) and “brown” Arab Mediterranean is not always obvious, especially in dim light.”

    Matthew Yglesias » Charles Murray Sees Nonwhite People 2010

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