Medium \Me"di*um\, n.; pl. L. Media, E. Mediums. [L.
medium the middle, fr. medius middle. See Mid, and cf.
Medius.]
1. That which lies in the middle, or between other things;
intervening body or quantity. Hence, specifically:
(a) Middle place or degree; mean.
[1913 Webster]
The just medium . . . lies between pride and
abjection. --L'Estrange.
[1913 Webster]
(b) (Math.) See Mean.
(c) (Logic) The mean or middle term of a syllogism; that
by which the extremes are brought into connection.
[1913 Webster]
2. A substance through which an effect is transmitted from
one thing to another; as, air is the common medium of
sound. Hence: The condition upon which any event or action
occurs; necessary means of motion or action; that through
or by which anything is accomplished, conveyed, or carried
on; specifically, in animal magnetism, spiritualism, etc.,
a person through whom the action of another being is said
to be manifested and transmitted.
[1913 Webster]
Whether any other liquors, being made mediums, cause
a diversity of sound from water, it may be tried.
--Bacon.
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I must bring together
All these extremes; and must remove all mediums.
--Denham.
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3. An average. [R.]
[1913 Webster]
A medium of six years of war, and six years of
peace. --Burke.
[1913 Webster]
4. A trade name for printing and writing paper of certain
sizes. See Paper.
[1913 Webster]
5. (Paint.) The liquid vehicle with which dry colors are
ground and prepared for application.
[1913 Webster]
6. (Microbiology) A source of nutrients in which a
microorganism is placed to permit its growth, cause it to
produce substances, or observe its activity under defined
conditions; also called culture medium or growth
medium. The medium is usually a solution of nutrients in
water, or a similar solution solidified with gelatin or
agar.
[PJC]
7. A means of transmission of news, advertising, or other
messages from an information source to the public, also
called a news medium, such as a newspaper or radio; used
mostly in the plural form, i. e. news media or media.
See 1st media[2].
[PJC]
Circulating medium, a current medium of exchange, whether
coin, bank notes, or government notes.
Ethereal medium (Physics), the ether.
Medium of exchange, that which is used for effecting an
exchange of commodities -- money or current
representatives of money.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Medium \Me"di*um\, a.
Having a middle position or degree; mean; intermediate;
medial; as, a horse of medium size; a decoction of medium
strength.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
medium
adj 1: around the middle of a scale of evaluation of physical
measures; "an orange of average size"; "intermediate
capacity"; "a plane with intermediate range"; "medium
bombers" [syn: average, intermediate]
2: (of meat) cooked until there is just a little pink meat
inside
n 1: a means or instrumentality for storing or communicating
information
2: the surrounding environment; "fish require an aqueous
medium"
3: an intervening substance through which signals can travel as
a means for communication
4: (bacteriology) a nutrient substance (solid or liquid) that
is used to cultivate micro-organisms [syn: culture medium]
5: an intervening substance through which something is
achieved; "the dissolving medium is called a solvent"
6: a liquid with which pigment is mixed by a painter
7: (biology) a substance in which specimens are preserved or
displayed
8: a state that is intermediate between extremes; a middle
position; "a happy medium"
9: someone who serves as an intermediary between the living and
the dead; "he consulted several mediums" [syn: spiritualist]
10: transmissions that are disseminated widely to the public
[syn: mass medium]
11: an occupation for which you are especially well suited; "in
law he found his true metier" [syn: metier]
[also: media (pl)]
WordNet (r) 2.0
349 Moby Thesaurus words for "medium":
Charlie McCarthy, actor, agency, agent, air brush, ambiance,
ambience, ambient, amidships, ancilla, appliance, approach,
arbitrator, arc, arc light, architect, art paper, atmosphere,
atoms, autecology, author, automatist, avenue, average, balance,
banal, betwixt and between, bien cuit, bioecology, bionomics,
broker, brush, camera lucida, camera obscura, canvas, center,
central, chalk, channel, charcoal, chromogen, climate, coat,
coat of paint, coating, color, color filter, color gelatin,
colorant, coloring, common, compromise, connection, contact,
contrivance, conveyance, core, course, crayon, creator, creature,
crown, dead-color, deputy, device, dimmer, distemper, distillate,
distillation, distributor, doer, done, doneness, drawing paper,
drawing pencil, drier, dull, dummy, duodecimo, dupe, dye, dyestuff,
easel, ecoclimate, ecodeme, ecology, ecosystem, ecstatic,
eighteenmo, element, elixir, environment, equatorial, equidistant,
essence, everyday, executant, executor, executrix, expedient,
exterior paint, fabric, fabricator, fair, fair to middling,
fairish, fence, fixative, flat coat, flat wash, floats, flood,
floodlight, floor enamel, folio, footlights, foots, front,
front man, gelatin, generality, gist, go-between, golden mean,
ground, half measures, half-and-half measures, halfway,
halfway measures, handmaid, handmaiden, happy medium, heart,
imperial, implement, indifferent, insipid, instrument,
instrumentality, instrumentation, interagent, interceder,
intercessor, intercurrent, interior, interior paint, interjacent,
intermediary, intermediate, intermediate agent, intermediation,
intermediator, intermedium, internuncio, interpleader, intervener,
intervenient, intervening, interventionist, interventor, jobber,
juste-milieu, kernel, klieg light, lackluster, lay figure, lever,
liaison, light plot, lights, limelight, link, long suit, maker,
marquee, marrow, material, matter, maulstick, mean, means, meat,
mechanism, medial, median, mediary, mediator, mediocre, mediocrity,
mediterranean, medium-rare, mesial, mesne, method, metier, mezzo,
mid, middle, middle course, middle ground, middle point,
middle position, middle state, middle way, middle-of-the-road,
middleman, middling, midland, midpoint, midships, midway, midwife,
milieu, minion, ministry, mise-en-scene, mode, moderate,
moderateness, moderation, modest, mouthpiece, mover, namby-pamby,
necromancer, negotiant, negotiator, negotiatress, negotiatrix,
neutral, neutral ground, norm, normal, nub, nuclear, octavo,
octodecimo, of a kind, of a sort, of sorts, ombudsman,
opaque color, operant, operative, operator, ordinary, organ,
overcooked, overdone, oyster, paint, paintbrush, palette,
palette knife, par, passable, pastel, pawn, pencil, performer,
perpetrator, pigment, pigments, pith, plaything, popular,
practitioner, prime coat, prime mover, primer, priming, producer,
psychic, psychographist, puppet, quarto, quintessence, respectable,
road, route, routine, royal, rule, run, run-of-mine,
run-of-the-mill, sap, scratchboard, servant, sextodecimo,
siccative, sixteenmo, sketchbook, sketchpad, slave, so-so, soul,
spatula, spirit, spirit rapper, spiritist, spiritualist, spokesman,
spokeswoman, spot, spotlight, spray gun, stain, standard, stooge,
stuff, stump, subject, substance, sum and substance, super,
surroundings, synecology, tangible, technique, tedious, tempera,
thinner, tie, tinction, tincture, tolerable, tool, toy,
transparent color, turpentine, turps, twelvemo, undercoat,
undercoating, usual, vapid, varnish, vehicle, via media, vulgar,
wash, wash coat, way, well-cooked, well-done, wholesaler,
wishy-washy, worker
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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