midwinter

(mĭd'wĭn'tər)
n.

1. The middle of the winter.
2. The period of the winter solstice, about December 22.

Although the astronomical solstice is 21 December, ‘midwinter’ is a looser concept. Anglo-Saxons used the term Yule to cover a period of some weeks on either side of the solstice, and in medieval times there were links running from the feast of St Nicholas (6 December) to Christmas Day, and from Christmas to Epiphany, or even Candlemas, which have left traces on the folk customs of these dates. Nowadays, most people would probably see midwinter as centred on 25 December, but extending to cover New Year's Day and the Twelve Days of Christmas.

IN BRIEF: The period around December 22.

Many of the midwinter holidays have to do with lights because the nights are so long and cold.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - vintersolhverv, midvinter
adj. - midvinter-

Nederlands (Dutch)
midwinter, zonnewende (omstreeks 21 december)

Français (French)
n. - milieu de l'hiver, solstice d'hiver
adj. - de plein hiver

Deutsch (German)
n. - Wintersonnenwende, Mittwinter
adj. - im Mittwinter

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - καταχείμωνο, μεσοχείμωνο
adj. - στη μέση του χειμώνα

Italiano (Italian)
pieno inverno, solstizio d'inverno, invernale

Português (Portuguese)
n. - solstício de inverno (m), pleno inverno (m)
adj. - relativo ao meio do inverno

Русский (Russian)
середина зимы, зимнее солнцестояние

Español (Spanish)
n. - pleno invierno, solsticio de invierno
adj. - de pleno invierno, en pleno invierno

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - midvinter
adj. - midvinter-

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
仲冬, 冬至, 冬至期

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 仲冬, 冬至, 冬至期

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 한겨울
adj. - 한겨울의

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 真冬, 冬至
adj. - 真冬の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) منتصف الشتاء (صفه) في نصف الشتاء‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אמצע החורף, סביב 22 לדצמבר (היום הקצר בשנה בחצי-הכדור הצפוני)‬
adj. - ‮של אמצע החורף, באמצע החורף‬

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