Etymology

mediate

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Today it means: To resolve differences, or to bring about a settlement, between conflicting parties. Full definition →

Middle English mediat(e) ← Late Latin mediātus
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The story

  1. Late Latin · derived frommediātus
  2. Middle English · inherited frommediat(e)“intermediate; intercessory”
  3. English todaymediate

The adjective is first attested in the 1440s in Middle English, the verb in 1538; from Middle English mediat(e) (“intermediate; intercessory”), borrowed from Late Latin mediātus, perfect passive participle of mediō (“to divide in the middle; (in Medieval Latin) to be in the middle, be or become between, mediate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from medius (“middle”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.