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medium Definition

me·dium (mē′dē əm)

noun pl. -·di·ums or -·dia-ə

    1. something intermediate
    2. a middle state or degree; mean
  2. an intervening thing through which a force acts or an effect is produced copper is a good medium for conducting heat
  3. pl. me′dia any means, agency, or instrumentality; specif., a means of communication that reaches the general public and carries advertising: in this specif. sense, a singular form media (pl.medias) is now often used
  4. any surrounding or pervading substance in which bodies exist or move
  5. environment
  6. a sterilized nutritive mixture, as enriched agar, for cultivating bacteria, viruses, etc.
  7. pl. me′di·ums☆ a person through whom communications are thought to be sent to the living from spirits of the dead
  8. any material or technique as used for expression or delineation in art
  9. a liquid mixed with pigments to give smoothness

Etymology: L, the middle, neut. of medius: see mid

adjective

  1. in a middle position; intermediate in quality, amount, degree, size, etc.
  2. neither rare nor well-done: said of cooked meat

medium Synonyms

medium

modif.

commonplace, mediocre, ordinary, average; see common 1.

medium Synonyms

medium

n.

  1. A means

    mechanism, tool, factor; see means 1.

  2. A means of expression

    symbol, sign, token, interpretation, exponent, manifestation, revelation, evidence, mark, statement, delineation; see also communication 1, communications, speech 2.

    Common modes of expression include: speech, facial expression, gesture, signs, pantomime, music, drama, writing, painting, sculpture, radio, television.

  3. A supposed channel of supernatural knowledge

    oracle, seer, spiritualist; see fortuneteller, prophet.

medium Telecom Definition
A substance that conveys something, i.e., through which something is carried or transmitted. In the context of telecommunications, a medium is something that passively supports or allows the conveyance or transmission of a signal, and is not necessarily a tangible thing that can be touched. See transmission medium.
medium Usage Examples

Possessives

  • obsession: Her death has immortalized her beauty, and due to the media's obsession her charities have probably received more attention than most others.

Converse of object

  • stream: Media Online Focus carries information on moving images and related content delivered online, including databases and streamed media.

Adjective modifier

  • mass: We also consider the role of the mass media in society.
  • digital: Analog and digital archiving The move to digital media is well underway.
  • mainstream: Or so the mainstream media would have you believe.
  • electronic: Each of these factors are helping push journals from paper to electronic media.
  • mixed: A click on mixed media gives reviews about books, films and music which is another interesting feature of the site.
  • interactive: With his company he developed methods to research how people use interactive media.

Modifies a noun

  • coverage: Contemporary dance is not blessed with a plethora of media coverage on any platform.
  • inquiry: She is the first point of contact for all media enquiries.
  • attention: Their debut album ITS NICE TO BE NICE is now selling well on its third pressing and has received national media attention.
  • outlet: We now have many more media outlets in Britain than when the lobby was established 120 years ago.
  • enterprise: Is this a market for small and medium enterprises?
  • heat: Add the bread crumbs, and cook over a medium heat tossing and turning, until nice and crispy brown.

Noun used with modifier

  • broadcast: Dealing with all aspects of advertising with a bias toward broadcast media.
  • multi: This multi media essay is one of three that attempt to explore some themes in greater depth.
  • mainstream: But that doesn t mean we can avoid the mainstream media altogether.
  • storage: A charge may also be made for storage media for information requested in electronic format.
  • mass: The right wing believe that mass media is creating a mass culture.
  • print: They involve spoken and written language, electronic and print media, still and moving images.
medium Quotes

Derived fromthe wordsTerribleVaudeville† We call it a medium because nothing's well done.

—Ace, Goodman

The medium is the message.

—McLuhan, (Herbert) Marshall

Man is not the enemy of Man, but through the medium of a false system of government.

—Paine,Thomas

The medium's gaze is brief, intense, and promiscuous. The shelf life of the moral causes it makes its own is brutally short.

—Ignatieff, Michael

   The moral life of man forms part of the subject matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium.

—Wilde, Oscar Fingal O'FlahertieWills

   Science is the reduction of the bewildering diversity of unique events to manageable uniformity within one of a number of symbol systems, and technology is the art of using thesesymbol systemssoastocontrol and organize unique events. Scientific observation is always a viewing of things through the refracting medium of a symbol system, and technological praxis is always handling of things in ways that some symbol system has dictated. Education in science and technology is essentially education on the symbol level.

—Huxley, Aldous Leonard

Dress is a form of visual art, a creation of images with the visible self as its medium.

—Hollander, Anne