PAL

Ptolemaeus Arabus et Latinus

_ (the underscore) is the placeholder for exactly one character.
% (the percent sign) is the placeholder for no, one or more than one character.
%% (two percent signs) is the placeholder for no, one or more than one character, but not for blank space (so that a search ends at word boundaries).

At the beginning and at the end, these placeholders are superfluous.

μέση‘middle’

Greek

References: Alm. Heiberg: I.5, t, 17:2
Translated into:
Arabic: وسط [Alm. MS Tunis: ]
Modern translations:
English: middle [Alm. Toomer: 41]