Meanings
- historicalThe larger, southern portion of ancient Media following the latter’s partition by the Macedonians, the smaller northern portion being Atropatian Media, also known as Atropatia or Atropatene.
In 147 B.C. Mithridates I. took Great Media from the king of Syria, and annexed it to the Parthian empire.
1891, Chambers's Encyclopædia, volume 7, page 1132 more examples
Great Media, which is a high table-land, is said by all antient writers to have had a good climate and a fertile soil; [...]
1839, The Penny Cyclopædia, volume 15, London, page 54The Persian empire had now reached its greatest extent, from Thrace and Cyrenaïca on the west to the Indus on the east, and from the Euxine, the Caucasus (or, rather, a little below it), the Caspian, and the Oxus and Jaxartes on the north, to Æthiopia, Arabia, and the Erythræan Sea on the south, and it embraced, in Europe, Thrace and some of the Greek cities north of the Euxine; in Africa, Egypt and Cyrenaïca; in Asia, on the west, Palestine, Phœnicia, Syria, the several districts of Asia Minor, Armenia, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Babylonia, Susiana, Atropatene, Great Media; on the north, [...]
1871, Charles Anthon, editor, A New Classical Dictionary, New York, page 632Synonyms: Greater Media, Media Magna
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounThe larger, southern portion of ancient Media following the latter’s partition by the Macedonians, the smaller northern portion being Atropatian Media, also known as Atropatia or Atropatene.
Origin
- Ancient GreekΜεγάλη Μηδία
- EnglishGreat Media
Calque of Ancient Greek Μεγάλη Μηδία (Megálē Mēdía, literally “Great Media”), as inferred from Strabo's description of the division of Media in his Geography (11.13.1): : ἡ δὲ Μηδία δίχα διῄρηται: καλοῦσι δὲ τὴν μὲν μεγάλην, ἧς μητρόπολις τὰ Ἐκβάτανα […] hē dè Mēdía díkha diēírētai: kaloûsi dè tḕn mèn megálēn, hês mētrópolis tà Ekbátana […] Media is divided into two parts; they call the one great, whose metropolis is Ecbatana […]
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French Grande Médie
- Grande MédieTranslations
German Großmedien
- GroßmedienTranslations
Italian Gran Media
- Gran MediaTranslations
Latin Mēdia Magna
- Mēdia MagnaTranslations
Polish Media Wielka
- Media WielkaTranslations
Russian Великая Мидия
- Великая Мидия (Velikaja Midija)Translations
Cite this entry
Great Media. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Great%20Media
“Great Media.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Great%20Media. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Great Media,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Great%20Media.
Source: Great Media on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.