medium
NOUN (plural -dia (-dɪə) or -diums):
1. a middle state or condition; mean.
2. something intermediate in nature or degree.
3. an intervening substance, as air, through which a force acts or an effect is produced.
4. the element that is the natural habitat of an organism.
5. surrounding objects, conditions, or influences; environment.
6. an intervening agency, means, or instrument by which something is conveyed or accomplished:
Words are a medium of expression.
7. one of the means or channels of general communication, information, or entertainment in society, as newspapers, radio, or television.
8. an intermediate or middle state, degree, or condition; mean:
the happy medium.
9. an intervening substance or agency for transmitting or producing an effect; vehicle:
air is a medium for sound.
10. a means or agency for communicating or diffusing information, news, etc, to the public:
television is a powerful medium.
11. the substance in which specimens of animals and plants are preserved or displayed.
12. something, such as an intermediate course of action, that occupies a position or represents a condition midway between extremes.
13. an intervening substance through which something else is transmitted or carried on.
14. an agency by which something is accomplished, conveyed, or transferred.
15. the substance, often nutritive, in which a specific organism lives and thrives.
16. a culture medium.
17. a filtering substance, such as filter paper.
18. a substance, such as agar, in which bacteria or other microorganisms are grown for scientific purposes.
19. a substance that makes possible the transfer of energy from one location to another, especially through waves. For example, matter of sufficient density can be a medium for sound waves, which transfer mechanical energy. See more at wave.
20. something in a middle position:
These shirts are all mediums.
21. a middle condition or degree; mean:
Look for a happy medium.
22. a means of effecting or conveying something (see below).
23. a substance regarded as the means of transmission of a force or effect:
air is the medium that conveys sound.
24. a surrounding or enveloping substance.
25. the tenuous material (such as gas and dust) in space that exists outside large agglomerations of matter (such as stars):
interstellar medium.
26. (plural usually "media"):
a) a channel or system of communication, information, or entertainment — compare mass medium
b) a publication or broadcast that carries advertising
c) a mode of artistic expression or communication as his literary medium he has chosen a biographical form. —Ernest Newman
d) something (such as a magnetic disk) on which information may be stored
27. (plural "media"):
a) digital audio or video files available for playback or streaming … the free video broadcasts can be downloaded to portable media players from a number of popular pod[cast] and vodcast Web sites. —Steve Miller // Apple's current keyboards can use the function keys … for alternate functions such as controlling volume, screen brightness, media playback … —Dan Frakes.
b) go-between, intermediary:
the medium of introduction was no doubt … the publisher. —Richard Garnett.
c) a nutrient system for the artificial cultivation of cells or organisms and especially bacteria.
d) a fluid or solid in which organic structures are placed (as for preservation or mounting).
28. a condition or environment in which something may function or flourish:
Ocean fish live in a medium of salt water.
in biology:
1. the substance in which specimens are displayed or preserved.
2. short for culture medium.
in bacteriology:
Also called "culture medium." a liquid or solidified nutrient material suitable for the cultivation of microorganisms.
in art or fine arts:
1. Painting. a liquid with which pigments are mixed.
2. the material or technique with which an artist works:
the medium of watercolor.
3. the category of a work of art, as determined by its materials and methods of production:
the medium of wood engraving.
4. the materials used in a work of art.
5. any solvent in which pigments are mixed and thinned.
6. material or technical means of artistic expression (such as paint and canvas, sculptural stone, or literary or musical form).
7. (plural "media) a liquid with which pigment is mixed by a painter.
in printing:
1. a size of printing paper, 18½ × 23½ inches (47 × 60 centimeters) in England, 18 × 23 to 19 × 25 inches (46 × 58 to 48 × 64 centimeters) in America.
2. any one of various sizes of writing or printing paper, esp 18 1/2 by 23 1/2 inches or 17 1/2 by 22 inches (small medium).
Chiefly British:
a size of drawing or writing paper, 17½ × 22 inches (44 × 56 centimeters).
of the dead:
1. a person through whom the spirits of the dead are alleged to be able to contact the living.
2. a person supposedly used as a spiritual intermediary between the dead and the living.
3. (plural "mediums") an individual held to be a channel of communication between the earthly world and a world of spirits.
other:
Also called medium strip. Midland U.S. median strip.
"in medium" (in movies, television):
with the principal actors in the middle distance:
The scene was shot in medium.
ADJECTIVE:
1. about halfway between extremes, as of degree, amount, quality, position, or size:
Cook over medium heat; He is of medium height.
2. midway between extremes; average:
a medium size.
3. (of a color) reflecting or transmitting a moderate amount of light:
a medium red. Compare light, dark.
4. occurring or being between two degrees, amounts, or quantities; intermediate.
5. intermediate in quantity, quality, position, size, or degree.
Synonyms:
(noun) average, golden mean, mean, middle, middle ground, midpoint.
(adj) average, intermediate, mean, median, middle, middling, midsize (also midsized), moderate, modest.
Related Words:
art, channel, climate, commonplace, fair, form, intermediate, instrument, element, par, mechanism, median, middle, middling, music, neutral, normal, standard, tool, vehicle,
Usage Note (Dictionary.com):
Media, like data, is the plural form of a word borrowed directly from Latin.
The singular, medium, early developed the meaning “an intervening agency, means, or instrument” and was first applied to newspapers two centuries ago.
In the 1920s media began to appear as a singular collective noun, sometimes with the plural medias.
This singular use is now common in the fields of mass communication and advertising, but it is not frequently found outside them:
The media is (or are ) not antibusiness.
Usage Guide (Merriam-Webster):
The singular media and its plural medias seem to have originated in the field of advertising over 70 years ago; they are still so used without stigma in that specialized field. In most other applications media is used as a plural of medium. The popularity of the word in references to the agencies of mass communication is leading to the formation of a mass noun, construed as a singular. there's no basis for it. You know, the news media gets on to something — Edwin Meese 3d the media is less interested in the party's policies — James Lewis, Guardian Weekly This use is not as well established as the mass-noun use of data and is likely to incur criticism especially in writing.
PLURAL:
mediums:
medium-dated gilt-edged securities.
"happy medium,"
1. a course of action or condition that is between two extremes:
Our climate is a happy medium between hot and cold.
2. a satisfactory compromise between two things that are related in such a way that one increases as the other decreases:
We need to find a happy medium between conserving land and developing property.
3. a course or state that avoids extremes.
Origin:
First recorded in1575–85; from Latin: “the middle,” noun use of neuter of medius “middle”; see mid1. Dictionary 2: C16: from Latin: neuter singular of medius middle. —Dictionary.com. //
First Known Use of medium: Noun: 1589. Adjective: 1670. History and Etymology for medium: Noun and Adjective: Latin, from neuter of medius middle — more at mid. —Merriam-Webster.
Sources: 1, 2.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/medium
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medium
1. a middle state or condition; mean.
2. something intermediate in nature or degree.
3. an intervening substance, as air, through which a force acts or an effect is produced.
4. the element that is the natural habitat of an organism.
5. surrounding objects, conditions, or influences; environment.
6. an intervening agency, means, or instrument by which something is conveyed or accomplished:
Words are a medium of expression.
7. one of the means or channels of general communication, information, or entertainment in society, as newspapers, radio, or television.
8. an intermediate or middle state, degree, or condition; mean:
the happy medium.
9. an intervening substance or agency for transmitting or producing an effect; vehicle:
air is a medium for sound.
10. a means or agency for communicating or diffusing information, news, etc, to the public:
television is a powerful medium.
11. the substance in which specimens of animals and plants are preserved or displayed.
12. something, such as an intermediate course of action, that occupies a position or represents a condition midway between extremes.
13. an intervening substance through which something else is transmitted or carried on.
14. an agency by which something is accomplished, conveyed, or transferred.
15. the substance, often nutritive, in which a specific organism lives and thrives.
16. a culture medium.
17. a filtering substance, such as filter paper.
18. a substance, such as agar, in which bacteria or other microorganisms are grown for scientific purposes.
19. a substance that makes possible the transfer of energy from one location to another, especially through waves. For example, matter of sufficient density can be a medium for sound waves, which transfer mechanical energy. See more at wave.
20. something in a middle position:
These shirts are all mediums.
21. a middle condition or degree; mean:
Look for a happy medium.
22. a means of effecting or conveying something (see below).
23. a substance regarded as the means of transmission of a force or effect:
air is the medium that conveys sound.
24. a surrounding or enveloping substance.
25. the tenuous material (such as gas and dust) in space that exists outside large agglomerations of matter (such as stars):
interstellar medium.
26. (plural usually "media"):
a) a channel or system of communication, information, or entertainment — compare mass medium
b) a publication or broadcast that carries advertising
c) a mode of artistic expression or communication as his literary medium he has chosen a biographical form. —Ernest Newman
d) something (such as a magnetic disk) on which information may be stored
27. (plural "media"):
a) digital audio or video files available for playback or streaming … the free video broadcasts can be downloaded to portable media players from a number of popular pod[cast] and vodcast Web sites. —Steve Miller // Apple's current keyboards can use the function keys … for alternate functions such as controlling volume, screen brightness, media playback … —Dan Frakes.
b) go-between, intermediary:
the medium of introduction was no doubt … the publisher. —Richard Garnett.
c) a nutrient system for the artificial cultivation of cells or organisms and especially bacteria.
d) a fluid or solid in which organic structures are placed (as for preservation or mounting).
28. a condition or environment in which something may function or flourish:
Ocean fish live in a medium of salt water.
in biology:
1. the substance in which specimens are displayed or preserved.
2. short for culture medium.
in bacteriology:
Also called "culture medium." a liquid or solidified nutrient material suitable for the cultivation of microorganisms.
in art or fine arts:
1. Painting. a liquid with which pigments are mixed.
2. the material or technique with which an artist works:
the medium of watercolor.
3. the category of a work of art, as determined by its materials and methods of production:
the medium of wood engraving.
4. the materials used in a work of art.
5. any solvent in which pigments are mixed and thinned.
6. material or technical means of artistic expression (such as paint and canvas, sculptural stone, or literary or musical form).
7. (plural "media) a liquid with which pigment is mixed by a painter.
in printing:
1. a size of printing paper, 18½ × 23½ inches (47 × 60 centimeters) in England, 18 × 23 to 19 × 25 inches (46 × 58 to 48 × 64 centimeters) in America.
2. any one of various sizes of writing or printing paper, esp 18 1/2 by 23 1/2 inches or 17 1/2 by 22 inches (small medium).
Chiefly British:
a size of drawing or writing paper, 17½ × 22 inches (44 × 56 centimeters).
of the dead:
1. a person through whom the spirits of the dead are alleged to be able to contact the living.
2. a person supposedly used as a spiritual intermediary between the dead and the living.
3. (plural "mediums") an individual held to be a channel of communication between the earthly world and a world of spirits.
other:
Also called medium strip. Midland U.S. median strip.
"in medium" (in movies, television):
with the principal actors in the middle distance:
The scene was shot in medium.
ADJECTIVE:
1. about halfway between extremes, as of degree, amount, quality, position, or size:
Cook over medium heat; He is of medium height.
2. midway between extremes; average:
a medium size.
3. (of a color) reflecting or transmitting a moderate amount of light:
a medium red. Compare light, dark.
4. occurring or being between two degrees, amounts, or quantities; intermediate.
5. intermediate in quantity, quality, position, size, or degree.
Synonyms:
(noun) average, golden mean, mean, middle, middle ground, midpoint.
(adj) average, intermediate, mean, median, middle, middling, midsize (also midsized), moderate, modest.
Related Words:
art, channel, climate, commonplace, fair, form, intermediate, instrument, element, par, mechanism, median, middle, middling, music, neutral, normal, standard, tool, vehicle,
Usage Note (Dictionary.com):
Media, like data, is the plural form of a word borrowed directly from Latin.
The singular, medium, early developed the meaning “an intervening agency, means, or instrument” and was first applied to newspapers two centuries ago.
In the 1920s media began to appear as a singular collective noun, sometimes with the plural medias.
This singular use is now common in the fields of mass communication and advertising, but it is not frequently found outside them:
The media is (or are ) not antibusiness.
Usage Guide (Merriam-Webster):
The singular media and its plural medias seem to have originated in the field of advertising over 70 years ago; they are still so used without stigma in that specialized field. In most other applications media is used as a plural of medium. The popularity of the word in references to the agencies of mass communication is leading to the formation of a mass noun, construed as a singular. there's no basis for it. You know, the news media gets on to something — Edwin Meese 3d the media is less interested in the party's policies — James Lewis, Guardian Weekly This use is not as well established as the mass-noun use of data and is likely to incur criticism especially in writing.
PLURAL:
mediums:
medium-dated gilt-edged securities.
"happy medium,"
1. a course of action or condition that is between two extremes:
Our climate is a happy medium between hot and cold.
2. a satisfactory compromise between two things that are related in such a way that one increases as the other decreases:
We need to find a happy medium between conserving land and developing property.
3. a course or state that avoids extremes.
Origin:
First recorded in1575–85; from Latin: “the middle,” noun use of neuter of medius “middle”; see mid1. Dictionary 2: C16: from Latin: neuter singular of medius middle. —Dictionary.com. //
First Known Use of medium: Noun: 1589. Adjective: 1670. History and Etymology for medium: Noun and Adjective: Latin, from neuter of medius middle — more at mid. —Merriam-Webster.
Sources: 1, 2.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/medium
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medium