medium
/ˈmiːdɪəm
/noun (plural media or mediums)
1An agency or means of doing something: using the latest technology as a medium for job creation their primitive valuables acted as a medium of exchange...
- A common answer is ‘anything that can be used as a medium of exchange’.
- To use TV as a medium of education will yield rich dividends.
- The meetings provide a medium for local councillors to raise the issues of their electorate on a more intimate basis with Council officials.
1.1A means by which something is communicated or expressed: here the Welsh language is the medium of instruction...
- It provides education for children using the Maori language as the medium of instruction.
- Secondly, the Commission recommends Mother Tongue as the medium of instruction for elementary education.
- English is the official language and the main medium of instruction from preschool to tertiary levels of education.
2The intervening substance through which sensory impressions are conveyed or physical forces are transmitted: radio communication needs no physical medium between the two stations...
- Second, the gene provides the physical medium for sharing genetic information from generation to generation.
- Air, the lubricating medium, is forced into a reservoir surrounding the bearing.
- Moving in a fluid is complicated by the fact that forces applied to the medium cause it to move.
2.1The substance in which an organism lives or is cultured: these cells are grown in a nutrient-rich medium...
- Typically, by the end of batch culture nutrients in the medium would be considerably depleted.
- The world ocean is what laboratory scientists would call a culture medium, the largest petri dish known to mankind.
- Alkaloid levels were determined both in the roots and in the culture medium after a culturing period of 28 d.
2.2A liquid (e.g. oil or water) with which pigments are mixed, with a binder, to make paint.We carry a large range of dry pigments, oils and mediums....
- When a pigment has a high scattering power in relation to the medium, the paint will be dense and opaque in appearance.
3A particular form of storage material for computer files, such as magnetic tape or discs.In most cases, magnetic disk storage will be the medium of choice for several key reasons....
- This means shifting data between storage mediums in an effort to provide the ideal levels of access, protection, and recovery at the lowest possible total cost.
- A signal from a storage medium is processed in a data channel to form digital data.
4The material or form used by an artist, composer, or writer: oil paint is the most popular medium for glazing...
- The other pieces were in ceramic, the medium for which the artist is best known.
- And woodblocks have remained the dominant medium for Japanese print artists until our days.
- Concrete is one of the artist's favorite mediums.
5 (plural mediums) A person claiming to be in contact with the spirits of the dead and to communicate between the dead and the living.Such beliefs are not confined to rural areas; in the cities there is a network of spirit mediums who claim to contact the dead....
- This work, by Professor Richard Wiseman, involved asking five mediums to contact the dead relatives of five volunteers.
- He asserts that this work supports the mediums ' claims that they are actually communicating with the dead.
Synonyms
spiritualist, clairvoyant, mind reader, fortune teller, seer, necromancer
rare spiritist
6The middle quality or state between two extremes; a reasonable balance: the song soon discovers a happy medium between thrash and catchy pop
Synonyms
middle way, middle course, middle ground, middle, mean, median, mid point, central point, centre, average, norm, standard;
compromise, balance, happy medium, golden mean
adjective
1Halfway between two extremes of size, amount, length, etc.; average: John is six feet tall, of medium build plan for the medium term...
- He was described as a man in his late 30s, taller than average, of medium build with short dark hair and who spoke with no discernible accent.
- She had a slim build and medium length, fashionably styled blonde hair.
- She has fair medium length straight hair and blue eyes.
Synonyms
average, middling, medium-sized, middle-sized, moderate, fair, normal, standard, usual
1.1 Cricket (Of bowling or a bowler) of a pace intermediate between fast and slow bowling: Tate had early developed into a fast medium bowler...
- Alan Connolly was a right-arm fast medium bowler, tall in stature and powerfully built.
- He was a hard-hitting batsman and an excellent opening medium pace bowler.
- His fielding alone makes him stand out from the crowd and there is also the option he gives us with the ball as he can bowl medium pace or off-spin.
Derivatives
mediumism
- The true scientific use of the pendulum is not to be confused with mediumism or the subconscious mind at all.
- The study of mediumism and related phenomena shows us that many mediums assessed as genuine, later began to lose their powers and took to cheating due to the pressure to go on producing results.
- But anyhow; using a Ouija-table or practising table-tilting is one way to try to develop mediumism, or to get the first contact from the other side.
mediumistic
/ adjectivesense 5 of the noun. ...- In 1921 a journalist, James Douglas, had a photo of himself taken by medium William Hope, of the Crewe Circle mediumistic group, that, when developed, showed the presence of a spirit extra.
- During a mediumistic reading the medium usually produces a large number of statements and the sitter has to decide whether these statements accurately describe his/her deceased friends or relatives.
- It is hoped that future tests of mediumistic ability will employ the type of blind judging methods that have been developed, and frequently employed, in past tests of mediumistic ability.
mediumship
- The three-part BBC series aims to lift the veil on mediumship - asking whether mediums spread false hope, exploit the vulnerable or simply tell people what they want to hear.
- It is the most commonly used method behind such mysteries as mediumship, palmistry, astrology and a host of other varieties of ‘psychic’ reading.
- For Mrs Howard her ‘gift’ for mediumship was discovered out of a tragic loss she suffered more than 20 years ago.
Origin
Late 16th century (originally denoting something intermediate in nature or degree): from Latin, literally 'middle', neuter of medius.
mediocre from late 16th century:
Mediocre is from Latin mediocris used to mean ‘of middle height or degree’, but literally ‘somewhat rugged or mountainous’, from medius ‘middle’ and ocris ‘rugged mountain’. Medius also gives us medium (late 16th century) and intermediate (Late Middle English), while meridian (Late Middle English) goes back to Latin meridianum ‘noon’ from medius dies ‘middle of the day’.
Rhymes
- nightie-nightie
- nightingale
- nightingale floor
- Nightingale, Florence
- Nightingale ward
- nightish
- nightjar
- night jasmine
- Night Journey
- night lamp
- night lark
- nightless
- night letter
- nightlife
- nightlifer
- night light
- nightlike
- night line
- night lizard
- nightlong
- nightly
- night mail
- nightman
- nightmare
- nightmared