sredinom

Sredinom is a word used in several South Slavic languages, including Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian. It functions as a form that indicates centrality, meaning “in the middle,” “midway,” or “toward the center.” It is used to describe both spatial relationships and points in time that are roughly central within a larger whole. In geographic contexts it often denotes being in the central part of a city or region; in temporal contexts it can refer to the middle of a day, night, or event.

Origin and usage: Sredinom is derived from sredina, meaning “center” or “middle.” In many dialects it is formed with the instrumental suffix -om, yielding sredinom for constructions such as sredinom grada (“in the middle of the city”) or sredinom dana (“in the middle of the day”). It is typically used with a following noun in a genitive or with time expressions, and it may appear in idiomatic phrases that emphasize central focus or sequence. While the most common sense is literal centrality, sredinom can also be used figuratively to indicate central importance or focal point within a discussion or narrative.

Examples include: Sredinom grada prolazi najprometnija tramvajska linija. Sredinom noći svjetla su se ugasila. In some dialects or registers, alternative forms or prepositional constructions like u sredini may be preferred, but sredinom remains widely understood. See also sredina and srednji.