Midrash (midrash)

[Heb. midhrash, commentary, exposition, 〈 dārash, tread, frequent, seek, search, apply oneself to.] 1. In Jewish lit., exegesis, interpretation, or exposition of the Hebrew Scriptures. Specifically the word denotes haggadic or free interpretation or exposition of a homiletic, allegorical, and popular nature, interspersed with maxims and ethical sayings of eminent men, and with illustrations drawn from the natural world, as well as from all departments of human learning and experience. Compare haggadah. 2. An exposition or discourse of this kind, or a collection of such expositions or discourses: as, the Midrash on Samuel; the Midrash on the Psalms. In this sense the plural is Midrashim, occasionally Midrashoth. Midrashic (mi-drash'ik), a. [ Very few sayings in Greek are quoted in the Midrashic literature. Amer . Jour . Philol . , VII. 93. midrib (mid'rib), n. 1. In bot . , the middle (often the only) rib or nerve of a leaf; a continu Bourne's Pop. Antiq . (1777), p. 329, note. midle t (mid'les), a. [ le .] ation of the petiole, extending from the base to Without middle or core. [Rare.] 'Tis nought but All, in 't selfe including All; An vn-beginning, midle , endle Ball. Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 1.