medial

comparative more medial · superlative most medial

1. mathematicsOf or pertaining to a mean or average.

   medial allegation

2. Situated in or near the middle; not at either end.
   1. anatomyPertaining to the inside; closer to the median plane of the body or the midline of an organ.

      The medial side of the knee faces the other knee, while the outer side of the knee is lateral.

      1 more example

      Her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) are torn and Vonn has a lateral fracture of the tibial plateau, the upper end of the tibia or shin bone.

      2013 February 6, Jen Christiensen, “Vonn’s injury ‘career-delayer,’ not ‘career ender’”, in CNN

      Antonyms: lateral

   2. anatomyPertaining to the middle layer of a blood vessel, to its tunica media.

      Mönckeberg medial sclerosis

   3. biologyOf or pertaining to the media and/or the areas of the wing next to it.
   4. human sciences(of a speech sound, or a character or sequence thereof) In the middle of a word.
   5. human sciences(of a consonant) Central: produced when air flows across the center of the mouth over the tongue.

      Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.

      1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC

   6. human sciencesCloser to the addressee.

plural medials

1. Any of various things that occur in the middle.
   1. One or more letters that occur in the middle of a word.