medial Hear it!

medial Definition

me·dial (mē′dē əl)

adjective

  1. of or in the middle; neither beginning nor ending; median
  2. nearer the median plane or axis of a body or part
    1. of an average or mean
    2. average; ordinary

Etymology: LL medialis < L medius, middle: see mid

noun

  1. a medial letter
  2. in some alphabets, the form of a letter that is used as neither an initial nor final letter

medial Related Forms

me′·di·ally adverb

medial Synonyms

medial

modif.

median, average, mean, between, intermediate, innermost; see also center, central 1, middle.

medial Usage Examples

Converse of object

activate: Verbal memory tasks that activate the medial left temporal lobe have been implemented 63.

Modifies a noun

  • malleolus: They revealed an oblique fracture of the medial malleolus.
  • epicondyle: Near the elbow the vein changes to a position in front of the medial epicondyle where it is joined by the median cubital vein.
  • meniscus: The deeper layer of the ligament is attached to the medial meniscus.
  • condyle: The most common site is on the lateral aspect of the intercondylar region of the medial femoral condyle.
  • ligament: He sustained a 90 per cent tear of his medial ligaments in last Tuesday's Test match.
  • lobe: The extent of impairment suggests dysfunction beyond the medial temporal lobe.

Modifying Another Word

  • slightly: The sciatic nerve is most likely to lie slightly medial to the path of the needle if these landmarks are used.
  • just: They are blocked by an injection of local anesthetic between internal and external oblique muscles just medial to the anterior superior iliac spine.
  • then: We were told to teach first initial then final sounds and then medial vowel sounds.

Used with adjective complement

lie: In the femoral triangle the FV lies medial to the artery.