Medium German · revision 35457

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1657|origins=la medius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmeːdi̯ʊm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Medium''' ''n'' (genitive Mediums, plural Medien)^(Wiktionary)

+ In some senses the plural is also ''Media''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|medium|t=the middle; a means]], the neuter of the adjective [[m|la|medius|t=in the middle, middle]] used as a noun, borrowed in the 17th century.^(Kluge 2011|611)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|553)^(DFWB) The Latin adjective is cognate with [[Mitte]].^(Kluge 2011|611)^(Pfeifer 1993) The sense “means of mass communication” arose in the middle of the 20th century, probably under the influence of the English plural [[m|en|media]].^(Duden 7 2014|553)^(Kluge 2011|611)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The word came in during the 17th century as a scientific term, “carrier of a physical process”, and as a grammatical term for the middle voice; the Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch's first record is Bellin's grammar of 1657.^(DFWB)^(Pfeifer 1993) A translation of Kircher's ''Musurgia'' of 1662 explains that sound cannot be carried ''durch das tremulirende medium'' (“through the trembling medium”) as sight is through misty air.^(DFWB)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 18th century it came into general figurative use as “means, mediating element”;^(Pfeifer 1993) Wieland rendered it with ''Mittel'', and Herder spoke of ''ein Mittleres (Medium)'' that prepares an object for the senses.^(DFWB)^(Paul 2002) Grammarians also used ''Media'' for the voiced stops ''b'', ''d'', ''g'' (Bödiker, 1698).^(DFWB)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ From about 1850, following the usage of American spiritualism, a ''Medium'' was a person said to communicate with spirits, and later also a subject of hypnotic or psychological experiments.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DFWB)^(Duden 7 2014|553) In the second half of the 20th century the plural ''Medien'' came to mean the press, radio and television, with compounds such as [[Massenmedien]] and ''Printmedien'';^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) ''Multimedia'', with the Latin plural, was the German Word of the Year in 1995.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1657 – First record, as a grammatical term.^(DFWB)

+ * 1662 – Used in physics for the medium that carries sound.^(DFWB)

+ * 1698 – Bödiker uses ''Media'' for voiced stops.^(DFWB)

+ * 18th century – General sense “means, mediating element”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * c. 1850 – The spiritualist sense arises; the Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch's first German record is from 1871.^(DFWB)^(Paul 2002)

+ * Second half of the 20th century – ''Medien'' “the mass media”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|553)

+ * 1995 – ''Multimedia'' is chosen as Word of the Year.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(formal)'' A mediating element, a means of expression: ''Musik als Medium der Verständigung''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(usually plural)'' The [[m|en|media]]: press, radio, television and the internet: ''Die Medien berichteten ausführlich über den Unfall.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A means of conveying information or a [[m|en|storage medium]], such as a book or disc: ''Die Kassette ist ein veraltetes Medium.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(physics, chemistry)'' A substance through which something passes or in which a process takes place: ''Schall braucht ein Medium, um sich auszubreiten.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(parapsychology)'' A [[m|en|medium]], a person said to communicate with the spirit world.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(medicine, psychology)'' A subject of experiments, especially in [[m|en|hypnosis]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(linguistics)'' The [[m|en|middle voice]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Massenmedien]]

+ * [[Printmedien]]

+ * [[Multimedia]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Mitte]]

+ * [[mittel]]

+ * [[medial]]

+ * [[Milieu]]

+ * [[Intermezzo]]

+ * [[la|medius]]

+ * [[en|medium]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The indeclinable adjective ''medium'' “medium-rare” (of meat) and “medium” (as a clothing size) is a separate, later borrowing from English.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}