Midriff
/ˈmɪd.rɪf/noun
The middle part of the human body between the chest and the waist.
Did you know?The word began as Old English *midhrif*, meaning the middle of the belly or diaphragm, and it only later shifted to the modern fashion/body-area sense.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*midja-
“middle”
Old English
OE
midhrif
“the middle of the belly; diaphragm”
Middle English
ME
midrife / midriffe
“the diaphragm; the middle of the body”
Modern English
English
midriff
“the part of the body between the chest and the waist”