medium English · revision 4416

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1584|origins=la medius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmiː.di.əm/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|medium|t=the middle, midst; interval]], in Medieval Latin also “means”,^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) the noun use of the neuter of [[m|la|medius|t=in the middle]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*medʰyo-|alt=*medhyo-|t=middle]],^(Etymonline) the root of [[mid]] and [[middle]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The middle term of a syllogism in logic: 1584 in the OED and Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) A middle quality, degree or condition is from 1593,^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) the 1580s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Most later senses come from two notions.^(Etymonline) An intervening substance through which a force acts, as air carrying sound, is from 1595,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) which led to the sense of an enveloping substance or environment, 1865.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) An intermediate agency or channel is from 1605,^(OED 1989) which led to a publication carrying advertising, 1795, the start of the later sense in ''media''.^(Etymonline) In spiritualism, a person said to convey messages from the dead, it is from 1853.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) In painting, the liquid in which pigments are mixed, it is from 1854.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The adjective, average or middling, is from the 1660s,^(Etymonline) 1670 in Merriam-Webster Unabridged,^(MWU 2024) and as a size from 1711.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) Of meat cooked between rare and well done it is from 1931.^(Etymonline) A ''happy medium'' is the golden mean, Horace's aurea mediocritas.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1584 – the middle term in logic.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1593 – a middle degree.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1595 – an intervening substance.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1605 – an agency, channel.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1660s – adjective, middling.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1711 – of size.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1795 – a publication.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1853 – a spiritualist medium.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1854 – in painting.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1865 – an environment.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1931 – of meat.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something in a middle position or condition between extremes.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A substance through which something is transmitted, as air for sound.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A means by which something is conveyed or done; especially a means of mass [[communication]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The material or technique of an artist, as oil or [[watercolour]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A surrounding environment; a substance in which bacteria are grown.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A person through whom the dead are said to communicate.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Between two degrees or amounts; [[intermediate]]: ''of medium height''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mediumistic]]

+ * [[mediumship]]

+ * [[contrast medium]]

+ * [[mass medium]]

+ * [[culture medium]]

+ * [[medium of exchange]]

+ * [[circulating medium]]

+ * [[medium shot]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mean]]

+ * [[mediate]]

+ * [[mediation]]

+ * [[mediator]]

+ * [[median]]

+ * [[mediocre]]

+ * [[mediocrity]]

+ * [[media]]

+ * [[mid]]

+ * [[middle]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The plural is media or mediums, and mediums is usual for the spiritualist sense.^(MW Collegiate)^(SOED 2002) The American Heritage regards media used as a singular for one means of communication (“a new media”) as widely held to be incorrect, but finds a stronger case for media as a collective term for the news industry, which, like data and agenda, has come to differ in meaning from its singular.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}