media Italian · revision 38792

+ Italian has two words spelled ''media'': the feminine noun “average”, formed from the adjective [[medio]], and the masculine plural “media”, borrowed from English.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ {{homograph|1|average}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=before 1617, Bernardino Baldi|origins=ine-pro *médʰyos}}

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''media''' ''f'' (plural medie)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The average is the feminine of [[medio|t=middle, average]] used as a noun, after an earlier phrase with a feminine noun, meaning “average measure”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) Wiktionary takes it directly from [[la|media]], the feminine of [[m|la|medius|t=middle]].^(Wiktionary)

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+ The Latin adjective goes back to [[itc-pro|*meþio-]] and [[ine-pro|*médʰyos|t=middle]],^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) and it is related to [[grc|μέσος|tr=mésos]] and [[got|𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌹𐍃|tr=midjis]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==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.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==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.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|3, 164) The school sense, a pupil's average mark over a term, is dated 1891, from Petrocchi's dictionary.^(DELI 1999)

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+ 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.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) In phonetics ''media'' is a voiced stop.^(GRADIT 2003) Battaglia records an obsolete ''media'' for a woman with the powers of a spiritualist medium.^(GDLI|9)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1617 – Bernardino Baldi uses ''media'' in mathematics.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1891 – Petrocchi records the school average.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|average]], a mean value between the lowest and the highest of a series: ''la media delle temperature di luglio''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Average speed: ''Abbiamo tenuto una media di cento all'ora.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The normal level, far from the extremes: ''un ragazzo sopra la media''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # A pupil's average mark: ''Ha la media dell'otto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(chiefly plural)'' The lower secondary school: ''fare le medie''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A medium size of clothing; a medium glass of beer.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(phonetics)'' A voiced stop consonant.^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ {{homograph|2|mass media}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1960, G. Ratti|origins=la medius}}

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''media''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The mass media are [[bor|en|media]], short for [[m|en|mass media]].^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The English word is the plural of [[m|en|medium]], from [[la|medium|t=middle; intermediate space]], the neuter of [[m|la|medius]].^(Nocentini 2010) The short form had been used in English since 1927 and was also used in French in the 1960s.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is of 1960, in G. Ratti, as a short form of ''mass media''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The Zingarelli of 1973 defines it as the modern audiovisual means of spreading information.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The full phrase ''mass media'' is recorded in Italian from 1967.^(Nocentini 2010) The derivative ''mediateca'', a library of audiovisual material, followed in 1993.^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1960 – G. Ratti uses ''media'' for the mass media.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1967 – ''Mass media'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1973 – The Zingarelli dictionary defines ''media''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1993 – ''Mediateca'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(plural)'' The [[m|en|mass media]], the means of mass communication: ''Il caso è stato ignorato dai media.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mediatico]]

+ * [[mediateca]]

+ * [[mediale]]

+ * [[ipermedia]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[medio]]

+ * [[mezzo]]

+ * [[mass media]]

+ * [[la|medius]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Media'' “mass media” is said either with an English-like /ˈmidja/ or as Italian /ˈmɛdja/;^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Sabatini–Coletti gives the second as the adapted pronunciation.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Fixed phrases of ''media'' “average” are ''in media'' (on average) and ''media aritmetica'' (arithmetic mean).^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}