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Etymology and origin of the Italian word media

Italian has two words spelled media: the feminine noun “average”, formed from the adjective medio, and the masculine plural “media”, borrowed from English.[1][2][3]

media1 average

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
before 1617, Bernardino Baldi
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos

Forms

media f (plural medie)[4]

Etymology

The average is the feminine of medio (“middle, average”) used as a noun, after an earlier phrase with a feminine noun, meaning “average measure”.[1][2][5][6] Wiktionary takes it directly from Latin media, the feminine of medius (“middle”).[4]

The Latin adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *meþio- and Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“middle”),[7][4] and it is related to Ancient Greek μέσος (mésos) and Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌹𐍃 (midjis).[7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Bernardino Baldi, before 1617, as a term of mathematics: a value between the highest and the lowest of the values considered.[1][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century Tommaseo–Bellini records in media and the physicist's average of several measurements, such as the mean barometric pressure of a place over many years.[8] The school sense, a pupil's average mark over a term, is dated 1891, from Petrocchi's dictionary.[1]

The word was then applied to many things that lie in the middle of a range: a medium clothing size, a medium glass of beer, and, in the plural le medie, the lower secondary school.[2][9] In phonetics media is a voiced stop.[2] Battaglia records an obsolete media for a woman with the powers of a spiritualist medium.[10]

Timeline

  • Before 1617 – Bernardino Baldi uses media in mathematics.[1]
  • 1891 – Petrocchi records the school average.[1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An average, a mean value between the lowest and the highest of a series: la media delle temperature di luglio.[2][5][11]
  2. Average speed: Abbiamo tenuto una media di cento all'ora.[2][6]
  3. The normal level, far from the extremes: un ragazzo sopra la media.[2][5]
  4. A pupil's average mark: Ha la media dell'otto.[2][9][6]
  5. (chiefly plural) The lower secondary school: fare le medie.[2][9]
  6. A medium size of clothing; a medium glass of beer.[2]
  7. (phonetics) A voiced stop consonant.[2]

media2 mass media

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1960, G. Ratti
Borrowed from
English media
Ultimate origin
Latin medius
Etymology tree of media2
inherited borrowed derived
English media
Italian media

Forms

media m (invariable)[4]

Etymology

The mass media are borrowed from English media, short for mass media.[1][2][9] The English word is the plural of medium, from Latin medium (“middle; intermediate space”), the neuter of medius.[3] The short form had been used in English since 1927 and was also used in French in the 1960s.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is of 1960, in G. Ratti, as a short form of mass media.[1][2] The Zingarelli of 1973 defines it as the modern audiovisual means of spreading information.[1]

Semantic evolution

The full phrase mass media is recorded in Italian from 1967.[3] The derivative mediateca, a library of audiovisual material, followed in 1993.[3]

Timeline

  • 1960 – G. Ratti uses media for the mass media.[1]
  • 1967 – Mass media is recorded.[3]
  • 1973 – The Zingarelli dictionary defines media.[1]
  • 1993 – Mediateca is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (plural) The mass media, the means of mass communication: Il caso è stato ignorato dai media.[2][9][5]

Word family

  • mediatico
  • mediateca
  • mediale
  • ipermedia

Usage notes

Media “mass media” is said either with an English-like /ˈmidja/ or as Italian /ˈmɛdja/;[5][9] Sabatini–Coletti gives the second as the adapted pronunciation.[5][9] Fixed phrases of media “average” are in media (on average) and media aritmetica (arithmetic mean).[5][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  8. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 3, 164
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 9
  11. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli

Related etymologies

  • ok · also from English
  • dollaro · also from English
  • film · also from English
  • camera · also from English
  • detective · also from English
  • video · also from English
  • club · also from English
  • sexy · also from English
Cite this entry

“Media.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/media. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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