medium

See also: Medium, médium, and mèdium

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin medium, neuter of medius (“middle”), from Proto-Italic *meðjos, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between”). Compare middle. Doublet of medio, media, and mediate.

Pronunciation

enPR: mē'diəm, IPA^(key): /ˈmiː.di.əm/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -iːdiəm

Noun

medium (plural media or mediums)

The material of the surrounding environment, e.g. solid, liquid, gas, vacuum, or a specific substance such as a solvent.
The materials or empty space through which signals, waves, or forces pass.
- 1626, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum: or A Naturall Historie, London: William Lee, III. Century, p. 60,
  Whether any other Liquours, being made Mediums, cause a Diuersity of Sound from Water, it may be tried:
- 1642, John Denham, The Sophy, London: Thomas Walkley, Act II, Scene 1, page 12,
  He’s old and jealous, apt for suspitions, gainst which tyrants ears
  Are never clos’d. The Prince is young,
  Fierce, and ambitious, I must bring together
  All these extreames, and then remove all Mediums,
  That each may be the others object.
A format for communicating or presenting information.
- 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XLV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], OCLC 1000392275, page 272:
  ...at all events, she drank in with eager ear, and admiring mind, anecdote and history of all those excellent traits of disposition, and nobleness of conduct, which made him the idol of his describer, and gave her a knowledge of his temper and character, and the manner in which his boyhood and youth had passed, which she could never have gained by any other medium, and which it was unquestionably right she should know.
- 2015, “Staging the Politics of Difference: Homi Bhabha's Critical Literacy, Gary A. Olson and Lynn Worsham.”, in Gary A. Olson, ‎Lynn Worsham, ‎Henry A. Giroux, editor, Politics of Possibility: Encountering the Radical Imagination, page 133:
  Too often writing—in the broadest sense—is treated as a communicational medium where the subjects of that communication are constituted prior to the writing, where the objects of that communication are also constituted prior to that writing, and where the task of writing is seen as transparently mediating between already pregiven subjects, pregiven objects, and a preconstituted mise en scène.
(microbiology) A nutrient substance, commonly a solution or solid, for the growth of cells in vitro.
- 1996, Samuel Baron (editor), Medical Microbiology:
  In some instances one can take advantage of differential carbohydrate fermentation capabilities of microorganisms by incorporating one or more carbohydrates in the medium along with a suitable pH indicator. Such media are called differential media (e.g., eosin methylene blue or MacConkey agar) and are commonly used to isolate enteric bacilli.
(biology, horticulture etc.) A substance, structure, or environment in which living organisms subsist, grow or are cultured.
- 1895, Bashford Dean. Fishes, Living and Fossil
  The density of the living medium of fishes exerts upon them a mechanical influence; they are, so to say, balanced in water, free to proceed in all planes of direction...
A means, channel, agency or go-between through which communication, commerce, etc is conveyed or carried on, or by which an aim is achieved.
- 2007, Reuben Gold Thwaites, Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, Reprint Services Corporation, →ISBN, page 186:
  His loyalty to the English was doubtful and wavering, and his opposition to Post's journey was probably due to fears that his own importance as a medium between the Ohio Indians and the English would be diminished by the former's success.
(engineering) The materials used to finish a workpiece using a mass finishing or abrasive blasting process.

Derived terms

cool medium
hot medium
(microbiology, nutrient solution): differential medium

Translations

nature of the surrounding environment

Bulgarian: среда (bg) f (sreda)
Catalan: medi (ca) m
Finnish: väliaine (fi)
French: milieu (fr) m
German: Medium (de) n
Hebrew: תָּוֶךְ‎ (he) m (távech)
Hindi: माद्धयम (māddhayam)
Irish: meán (ga) m
Italian: veicolo (it) m, mezzo (it) m, strumento (it) m, tramite (it) m
Portuguese: meio (pt) m
Romanian: mediu (ro) n
Russian: среда́ (ru) f (sredá)
Spanish: medio (es) m
Tagalog: talaytayan
Telugu: మాధ్యమం (mādhyamaṁ)

material or empty space through which signals, waves or forces pass

Bulgarian: среда (bg) f (sreda)
Catalan: medi (ca) m
Danish: medium n
Dutch: medium (nl) n
Finnish: väliaine (fi)
French: médium (fr) m, support (fr) m
German: Medium (de) n
Hebrew: תָּוֶךְ‎ (he) m (távech)
Irish: meán (ga) m
Italian: veicolo (it) m, mezzo (it) m, strumento (it) m, tramite (it) m
Romanian: mediu (ro) n
Russian: среда́ (ru) f (sredá)

format for communicating or presenting information

Catalan: mitjà (ca) m
Czech: médium (cs) n
Danish: medium n
Faroese: miðil m
Finnish: media (fi), tiedotusväline (fi), viestin (fi)
French: médium (fr) m, média (fr) m
Georgian: საშუალება (sašualeba)
German: Medium (de) n
Hebrew: אֶמְצָעִי‎ (he) m (emtzaí)
Irish: meán (ga) m, idirmheán m, meánábhar m
Portuguese: meio (pt) m
Telugu: మధ్యస్తం (madhyastaṁ)

nutrient solution for the growth of cells in vitro

Bulgarian: среда (bg) f (sreda)
Finnish: ravintoliuos, kasvatusalusta, elatusaine (fi)
French: milieu (fr)
Italian: mezzo (it)
Portuguese: médio (pt), meio (pt) m
Spanish: mitad (es)

means, channel or agency by which an aim is achieved

Bulgarian: средство (bg) n (sredstvo)
Danish: middel (da)
Finnish: keino (fi), väline (fi)
Hebrew: אֶמְצָעִי‎ (he) m (emtzaí), מְתַוֵּךְ‎ m (metavéch)
Portuguese: mediador (pt) m
Russian: носи́тель (ru) m (nosítelʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: meadhan m
Welsh: cyfrwng m

engineering: materials used to finish a workpiece

Noun

medium (plural mediums or media)

A liquid base which carries pigment in paint.
(painting) A means of expression, in the arts, such as a material (oil, pastel, clay, etc) or method or style (expressionism, jazz, etc).
Acrylics, oils, charcoal, and gouache are all mediums I used in my painting.
- 1898, Missouri Department of Education, Report of the Public Schools of the State of Missouri, page 98:
  Heretofore in following the course, the student has been confined to black and white in the medium of charcoal, pen and ink or pencil. The first introduction to color is by means of the Still Life painting class.
- 1966, John P. Sedgwick, Discovering Modern Art: The Intelligent Layman's Guide to Painting from Impressionism to Pop
  It was the woodcut, however, that emerged as the favorite graphic medium of Expressionism. Rejecting the almost limitless pictorial possibilities of lithography, which had dominated printmaking during the nineteenth century, […]
- 1967, Barnet Kottler, Martin Light, The World of Words: A Language Reader:
  So we get a people in rebellion against a dominant majority, but forced to rebel secretly, to sublimate, as the psychologist would put it — to express themselves culturally through the medium of jaz , and linguistically through a code, a jargon ...
- 1974, Karl Siegfried Weimar, German Language and Literature: Seven Essays, Prentice Hall
  Prose is not the preferred medium of expressionism, yet some outstanding individual examples come to mind, for example: Robert Walser's (1876–1956) surrealistic miniatures and novels of a dreamlike structure reminiscent of Kafka […]
- 1999, Jet, page 29:
  The Pulitzer board said the award was given “in recognition of his musical genius, which evoked aesthetically the principles of democracy through the medium of jazz and thus made an indelible contribution to art and culture.”

Translations

liquid base which carries pigment in paint

Finnish: liuotin (fi)

painting: tool used for painting or drawing

Italian: veicolo (it) m, mezzo (it) m, strumento (it) m, tramite (it) m

Noun

medium (countable and uncountable, plural mediums)

(countable, spiritualism) Someone who supposedly conveys information from the spirit world.
- 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
  The hall was not too well lit and dark shadows lurked in the corners. The medium still bent her head as if her ears were straining.
(uncountable, especially clothing, food or drink) One of several common sizes to which an item may be manufactured.
Synonym: M
(countable, especially clothing, food or drink) An item labelled or denoted as being that size.
(countable, especially with respect to clothing) One who fits an item of that size.
(countable, Ireland, dated, informal) A half-pint serving of Guinness (or other stout in some regions).
(countable) A middle place or degree.
a happy medium
- 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[The Fables of Anianus, &c.] Fab[le] 215. An Oak and a Willow, Reflexion.”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], OCLC 228727523, page 188:
  […] the Just Medium of This Case lies betwixt the Pride, and the Abjection of the Two Extreams.
- 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter 2, in Emma: […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II or III), London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, OCLC 1708336, page 29:
  Her height was pretty […] her figure particularly graceful; her size a most becoming medium, between fat and thin […]
- 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 44, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, OCLC 558196156, page 453:
  In search of the principle on which joints ought to be roasted, to be roasted enough, and not too much, I myself referred to the Cookery Book […] . But the principle always failed us by some curious fatality, and we never could hit any medium between redness and cinders.
(countable, dated) An average; sometimes the mathematical mean.
- 1769, [Edmund Burke], Observations on a Late State of the Nation, 3rd edition, London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], OCLC 14983370, page 13:
  a medium of six years of war, and six years of peace
(countable, logic) The mean or middle term of a syllogism, that by which the extremes are brought into connection.

Derived terms

(person claiming to convey information from the spirit world): mediumistic, mediumism, mediumship
(middle place or degree): happy medium, strike a medium

Translations

someone who supposedly conveys information from the spirit world

Bulgarian: медиум (bg) m (medium)
Catalan: mèdium
Chinese:
Mandarin: 通靈／通灵 (zh) (tōnglíng)
Czech: médium (cs) n
Danish: medium
Dutch: medium (nl)
Estonian: meedium sg
Finnish: meedio (fi)
French: médium (fr)
Galician: médium m or f
German: Medium (de) n
Hebrew: מְתַוֵּךְ‎ m (metavéch), מֶדְיוּם‎ (he) m (médyum)
Hungarian: médium (hu)
Icelandic: miðilsgáfa
Indonesian: perantara (id), cenayang (id)
Irish: meán (ga) m, spioradaí m
Italian: medium (it)
Japanese: 霊媒 (ja) (reibai)
Maori: aho, kauwaka, matataketake
Polish: medium (pl) n
Portuguese: médium (pt)
Romanian: medium m
Russian: ме́диум (ru) m (médium)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ме̑дӣј m
Roman: mȇdīj (sh) m
Spanish: médium (es)
Tagalog: talaytayan

the size medium

Portuguese: médio (pt) m

item of the size medium

Finnish: keskikokoinen (fi)
French: moyen (fr)
Maori: wawaenga

person who fits medium items

Finnish: keskikokoinen (fi)
Hebrew: מֶדְיוּם‎ (he) m (médyum)

half-pint serving

Finnish: puolikas (fi)

middle place or degree

Finnish: puoliväli (fi)
Irish: meán (ga) m

average; sometimes the mathematical mean

Finnish: keskimäärä, keskiarvo (fi)
Portuguese: média (pt) f

logic: middle term of a syllogism

Finnish: alipremissi
Portuguese: médio (pt) m

Adjective

medium (not comparable)

(obsolete) Arithmetically average.
Of intermediate size, degree, amount etc.
Of meat, cooked to a point greater than rare but less than well done; typically, so the meat is still red in the centre.
(especially clothing, food or drink) That is medium (the manufactured size).

Synonyms

See also Thesaurus:intermediate

Derived terms

medium wave, mediumwave

Related terms

mean
mediate
mediation
mediator
median
mediocre
mediocrity

Translations

of intermediate size

Arabic: مُتَوَسِّط‎ (mutawassiṭ)
Belarusian: сярэ́дні (be) (sjarédni)
Bulgarian: сре́ден (bg) (sréden)
Burmese: လတ် (my) (lat)
Catalan: mitjà (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 中型 (zh) (zhōngxíng)
Czech: střední (cs)
Esperanto: mezgranda
Finnish: keskikokoinen (fi)
French: moyen (fr)
Friulian: mezan
German: mittelgroß (de)
Greek: μέσος (el) m (mésos), μέτριος (el) m (métrios)
Ancient: μέτριος (métrios)
Hebrew: בֵּינוֹנִי‎ (he) m (bēnoní)
Hungarian: közepes (hu)
Indonesian: sedang (id), tanggung (id)
Italian: medio (it)
Javanese: tanggung
Lao: ກາງ (lo) (kāng)
Latin: mediocris (la)
Macedonian: среден (sreden)
Malay: please add this translation if you can
Persian: مدیوم‎ (fa) (mediom)
Polish: średni (pl)
Portuguese: médio (pt)
Romanian: mediu (ro)
Russian: сре́дний (ru) (srédnij)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: сре̏дњӣ
Roman: srȅdnjī (sh)
Slovak: stredný (sk)
Slovene: srednji (sl)
Spanish: mediano (es), medio (es)
Swedish: mellan (sv), mellanstor (sv)
Tamil: please add this translation if you can
Ukrainian: сере́дній (serédnij)

cooked lightly

Chinese:
Mandarin: 五成熟, 五分熟 (zh)
Finnish: keskikypsä
French: demi-anglais
Portuguese: no ponto, ao ponto

Adverb

medium (not comparable)

To a medium extent.

Synonyms

mediumly

References

medium in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
medium in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

Anagrams

edimmu

Danish

Etymology

From Latin medium.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /meːdiɔm/, [ˈmeːˀd̥jɔm]

Noun

medium or medie n (singular definite mediet, plural indefinite medier)

medium

Inflection

Declension of medium

neuter gender	Singular		Plural
neuter gender	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	medium	mediet	medier	medierne
genitive	mediums	mediets	mediers	mediernes

Adjective

medium (neuter medium, plural and definite singular attributive medium)

medium

Dutch

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin medium.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈmeːdiʏm/

Noun

medium n (plural media, diminutive mediumpje n)

means, system or instrument for fulfilling an end
- 1967, Evert Willem Barth, Moderne logica, Van Gorcum, 138-139.
  Het is zeer aannemelijk dat sommige talen zich er beter toe lenen dan andere, als medium voor het logisch denken dienst te doen.
  It is very probable that some language are more suitable to being used as a medium for logical thinking than others are.
(physics) medium which a wave or force traverses
- 2009, Douglas C. Giancoli, Natuurkunde. Deel 2: Elektriciteit, magnetism, optica en moderne fysica, (tr. by Marianne Kerkhof & Louis Rijk Vertaling, red. by Luc van Hoorebeeke & Jan Rykebusch), Pearson (4th edition), 1100.
  Ze noemden dit transparante medium de ether en gingen ervan uit dat de hele ruimte ervan doordrongen was.
  They called this transparent medium aether and assumed that all of space was completely pervaded by it.
(grammar) middle voice
(communication, media) means of communication, media outlet
(communication) data medium, something that contains data
channeler, someone who claims to access the dead

Derived terms

geluidsmedium
lichtmedium
massamedium
mediopassief
taalmedium

Descendants

→ Indonesian: medium

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English medium, from Latin medium.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈmidiʏm/

Noun

medium n (plural mediums)

something of medium size

Adjective

medium (not comparable)

of medium size
(of meat) medium rare

Inflection

Inflection of medium
uninflected	medium
inflected	-
comparative	—
		positive
predicative/adverbial		medium
indefinite	m./f. sing.	-
	n. sing.	medium
	plural	-
definite		-
partitive		mediums

Synonyms

(medium rare): halfgaar

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch medium, from Latin medium.
Semantic loan from English medium for a measurement intermediate between extremes.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [meˈdiʊm]
Hyphenation: mé‧di‧um

Noun

medium or médium

medium,
1. anything having a measurement intermediate between extremes.
2. the means, channel, or agency by which an aim is achieved.
3. someone who supposedly conveys information from the spirit world.
4. (physics) the materials or empty space through which signals, waves or forces pass.
5. (biology) a nutrient solution for the growth.
(rare) media

Alternative forms

media

Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈme.di.um/, [ˈmɛd̪iʊ̃ˑ]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈme.di.um/, [ˈmɛːd̪ium]

Adjective

medium

inflection of medius:
1. masculine accusative singular
2. neuter nominative/accusative/vocative singular

Noun

medium n (genitive mediī or medī); second declension

middle, center, medium, midst
community, public, publicity

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	medium	media
Genitive	mediī medī¹	mediōrum
Dative	mediō	mediīs
Accusative	medium	media
Ablative	mediō	mediīs
Vocative	medium	media

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Derived terms

e medio abeo
in medio

Descendants

→ Catalan: mèdium, medi
→ Danish: medium
→ Dutch: medium
- → Indonesian: medium
→ English: medium
- → Dutch: medium
→ French: médium
French: mi-
Friulian: mieç
→ German: Medium
→ Italian: medio
→ Norwegian Bokmål: medium
→ Norwegian Nynorsk: medium
Portuguese: meio
→ Portuguese: médium
→ Romanian: mediu
→ Romansch: medium
Spanish: medio
→ Spanish: médium
→ Swedish: medium

Noun

medium

accusative/genitive singular of medius

References

“medium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“medium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
medium in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
- (ambiguous) the Mediterranean Sea: mare medium or internum
- (ambiguous) the middle ages: media quae vocatur aetas
- (ambiguous) manhood: aetas constans, media, firmata, corroborata (not virilis)
- (ambiguous) to remove a person: e or de medio tollere
- (ambiguous) to become known, become a topic of common conversation (used of things): foras efferri, palam fieri, percrebrescere, divulgari, in medium proferri, exire, emanare
- (ambiguous) to leave a thing undecided: aliquid in medio, in dubio relinquere (Cael. 20. 48)
- (ambiguous) elevated, moderate, plain style: genus dicendi grave or grande, medium, tenue (cf. Or. 5. 20; 6. 21)
- (ambiguous) to bring a subject forward into discussion: in medium proferre aliquid
- (ambiguous) to publish, make public: in medio ponere (proponere)
- (ambiguous) to break off in the middle of the conversation: medium sermonem abrumpere (Verg. Aen. 4. 388)
- (ambiguous) to be neutral: medium esse
- (ambiguous) to be neutral: medium se gerere
- (ambiguous) the centre of the marching column: agmen medium (Liv. 10. 41)
- (ambiguous) the centre: media acies
- (ambiguous) let us leave that undecided: hoc in medio relinquamus

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin medium.

Noun

medium n (definite singular mediet, indefinite plural medier, definite plural media or mediene)

a medium (also in spiritualism)

Derived terms

kjølemedium
massemedium

References

“medium” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin medium.

Noun

medium n (definite singular mediet, indefinite plural medium, definite plural media)

a medium (also in spiritualism)

Derived terms

kjølemedium
massemedium

References

“medium” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English medium, from Latin medium.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.djum/
Audio (file)
Rhymes: -ɛdjum
Syllabification: me‧dium

Noun

medium n

(spiritualism) medium (someone who supposedly conveys information from the spirit world)
means (instrument or condition for attaining a purpose)
(grammar) middle voice
Synonym: strona zwrotna

Declension

Declension of medium

	singular	plural
nominative	medium	media
genitive	medium	mediów
dative	medium	mediom
accusative	medium	media
instrumental	medium	mediami
locative	medium	mediach
vocative	medium	media

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin medium.

Noun

medium n

a medium, a middle part in communication, a substance useful for communication (e.g. aether), a spiritual connection

Declension

Declension of medium
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	medium	mediet	medier	medierna
Genitive	mediums	mediets	mediers	mediernas

Declension of medium (Latin plural)
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	medium	mediet	media	media
Genitive	mediums	mediets	medias	medias

Related terms

etermedium
lagringsmedium
massmedium
medel
mediaklimat
medial

medium

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

Translations

Noun

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Adverb

Synonyms

References

Anagrams

Danish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Inflection

Adjective

Further reading

Dutch

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Descendants

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Noun

Adjective

Inflection

Synonyms

Indonesian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Alternative forms

Further reading

Latin

Pronunciation

Adjective

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

Noun

References

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Noun

Derived terms

See also

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Noun

Derived terms

See also

References

Polish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Further reading

Swedish

Etymology

Noun

Declension

Related terms