Wordnet 3.0
NOUN (1)
1.
the area around the eastern Mediterranean;
from Turkey to northern Africa and eastward to Iran;
the site of such ancient civilizations as Phoenicia and Babylon and Egypt and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity and Islam;
had continuous economic and political turmoil in the 20th century;
- Example: "the Middle East is the cradle of Western civilization"[syn: Middle East, Mideast, Near East]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Mideast
n 1: the area around the eastern Mediterranean; from Turkey to
northern Africa and eastward to Iran; the site of such
ancient civilizations as Phoenicia and Babylon and Egypt
and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity and Islam;
had continuous economic and political turmoil in the 20th
century; "the Middle East is the cradle of Western
civilization" [syn: Middle East, Mideast, Near East]