Medium

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: me=di=um

CIDE DICTIONARY

Medium, n. [L. medium the middle, fr. medius middle. See Mid, and cf. Medius.].

•  That which lies in the middle, or between other things; intervening body or quantity.  [1913 Webster]

  "The just medium . . . lies between pride and abjection."  [1913 Webster]
•  A substance through which an effect is transmitted from one thing to another; as, air is the common medium of sound.  [1913 Webster]

  "Whether any other liquors, being made mediums, cause a diversity of sound from water, it may be tried."  [1913 Webster]

  "I must bring together
  All these extremes; and must remove all mediums."  [1913 Webster]
•  An average.  [1913 Webster]

  "A medium of six years of war, and six years of peace."  [1913 Webster]
•  A trade name for printing and writing paper of certain sizes. See Paper.  [1913 Webster]
•  The liquid vehicle with which dry colors are ground and prepared for application.  [1913 Webster]
•  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]
•  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.

Medium, a. 

 Having a middle position or degree; mean; intermediate; medial; as, a horse of medium size; a decoction of medium strength.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Medium, n. & adj.
--n. (pl. media or mediums)
1 the middle quality, degree, etc. between extremes (find a happy medium).
2 the means by which something is communicated (the medium of sound; the medium of television).
3 the intervening substance through which impressions are conveyed to the senses etc. (light passing from one medium into another).
4 Biol. the physical environment or conditions of growth, storage, or transport of a living organism (the shape of a fish is ideal for its fluid medium; growing mould on the surface of a medium).
5 an agency or means of doing something (the medium through which money is raised).
6 the material or form used by an artist, composer, etc. (language as an artistic medium).
7 the liquid (e.g. oil or gel) with which pigments are mixed for use in painting.
8 (pl. mediums) a person claiming to be in contact with the spirits of the dead and to communicate between the dead and the living.
--adj.
1 between two qualities, degrees, etc.
2 average; moderate (of medium height).

Idiom

medium bowler Cricket a bowler who bowls at a medium pace. medium dry (of sherry, wine, etc.) having a flavour intermediate between dry and sweet. medium frequency a radio frequency between 300 kHz and 3 MHz. medium of circulation something that serves as an instrument of commercial transactions, e.g. coin. medium-range (of an aircraft, missile, etc.) able to travel a medium distance. medium wave a radio wave of medium frequency.

Derivative

mediumism n. (in sense 8 of n.). mediumistic adj. (in sense 8 of n.). mediumship n. (in sense 8 of n.).

Etymology

L, = middle, neut. of medius

THESAURUS

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

ROGET THESAURUS

Medium

Instrumentality

N instrumentality, aid, subservience, subserviency, mediation, intervention, medium, intermedium, vehicle, hand, agency, minister, handmaid, midwife, accoucheur, accoucheuse, obstetrician, gobetween, cat's-paw, stepping-stone, opener, key, master key, passkey, latchkey, open sesame, passport, passe-partout, safe-conduct, password, instrument, expedient, means, instrumental, useful, ministerial, subservient, mediatorial, intermediate, intervening, conducive, through, by, per, whereby, thereby, hereby, by the agency of, by dint of, by virtue of, in virtue of, through the medium of, along with, on the shoulders of, by means of, by the aid of, with the aid of, per fas et nefas, by fair means or foul, somehow, somehow or other, by hook or by crook.

Means

N means, resources, wherewithal, ways and means, capital, revenue, stock in trade, provision, a shot in the locker, appliances, means and appliances, conveniences, cards to play, expedients, two strings to one's bow, sheet anchor, aid, medium, instrumental, mechanical, by means of, with, by what means, by all means, by any means, by some means, wherewith, herewith, therewith, wherewithal, how, through, with the aid of, by the aid of, by the agency of.

Mean

N mean, average, median, mode, balance, medium, mediocrity, generality, golden mean middle, compromise, middle course, middle state, neutrality, mediocrity, least common denominator, mean, intermediate, middle, average, neutral, mediocre, middle-class, commonplace, on an average, in the long run, taking one with another, taking all things together, taking it for all in all, communibus annis, in round numbers, medium tenuere beati.

Middle

N middle, midst, mediety, mean, medium, middle term, center &c, mid-course, mezzo termine, juste milieu, halfway house, nave, navel, omphalos, nucleus, nucleolus, equidistance, bisection, half distance, equator, diaphragm, midriff, intermediate, middle, medial, mesial, mean, mid, median, average, middlemost, midmost, mediate, intermediate, equidistant, central, mediterranean, equatorial, homocentric, in the middle, midway, halfway, midships, amidships, in medias res.

Sorcerer

N sorcerer, magician, thaumaturgist, theurgist, conjuror, necromancer, seer, wizard, witch, hoodoo, voodoo, fairy, lamia, hag, warlock, charmer, exorcist, mage, cunning man, medicine man, Shaman, figure flinger, ecstatica, medium, clairvoyant, fortune teller, mesmerist, deus ex machina, soothsayer, Katerfelto, Cagliostro, Mesmer, Rosicrucian, Circe, siren, weird sisters.

Circumjacence

N circumjacence, circumambience, environment, encompassment, atmosphere, medium, surroundings, outpost, border, girdle, outskirts, boulebards, suburbs, purlieus, precincts, faubourgs, environs, entourage, banlieue, neighborhood, vicinage, vicinity, circumjacent, circumambient, circumfluent, ambient, surrounding, circumferential, suburban, around, about, without, on every side, on all sides, right and left, all round, round about.

Color

N color, hue, tint, tinge, dye, complexion, shade, tincture, cast, livery, coloration, glow, flush, tone, key, pure color, positive color, primary color, primitive complementary color, three primaries, spectrum, chromatic dispersion, broken color, secondary color, tertiary color, local color, coloring, keeping, tone, value, aerial perspective, chromatics, spectrum analysis, spectroscopy, chromatism, chromatography, chromatology, prism, spectroscope, spectrograph, spectrometer, colorimeter (optical instruments), pigment, coloring matter, paint, dye, wash, distemper, stain, medium, mordant, oil paint, colored, colorific, tingent, tinctorial, chromatic, prismatic, full-colored, high-colored, deep-colored, doubly-dyed, polychromatic, chromatogenous, tingible, bright, vivid, intense, deep, fresh, unfaded, rich, gorgeous, gay, gaudy, florid, gay, garish, rainbow-colored, multihued, showy, flaunting, flashy, raw, crude, glaring, flaring, discordant, inharmonious, mellow, pastel, harmonious, pearly, sweet, delicate, tender, refined.