middle child

English

Noun

middle child (plural middle children)

1. (psychology) In an immediate family containing three children, the child who is neither the oldest nor the youngest.
   • 1946, George Orwell, Why I Write:

     I was the middle child of three, but there was a gap of five years on either side, and I barely saw my father before I was eight. For this and other reasons I was somewhat lonely.

   • 1987 February 15, Jean M. Sarosy, “Topics: The Unseen Woman”, in New York Times, retrieved 27 April 2014:

     As a middle child, you're not Mommy's big girl nor her little boy; you're just there.

   • 2002 March 30, Richard Corliss, “That Old Feeling: "E.T." Goes Home”, in Time, retrieved 27 April 2014:

     Elliott [is] the forgotten 10-year-old middle child between a teenager with a lot of friends and a precocious golden girl.

   • 2013 October 17, Carolyn Hax, “Tell Me About It: Middle-child syndrome, 2d generation”, in philly.com, retrieved 28 April 2014:

     My husband is the classic middle child, the peacemaker often overlooked by his parents.

Derived terms

• middle child syndrome

See also

• baby of the family
• firstborn