medium

plural media · plural mediums

1. The material of the surrounding environment, e.g. solid, liquid, gas, vacuum, or a specific substance such as a solvent.
2. The materials or empty space through which signals, waves, or forces pass.

   VVhether any other Liquours, being made Mediums, cauſe a Diuerſity of Sound from Water, it may bee tried: […]

   1631, Francis [Bacon], “III. Century. [Experiments in Consort, Touching the Medium of Sounds.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, paragraph 220, page 60

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   He’s old and jealous, apt for ſuſpitions, ’gainſt which Tyrants ears Are never clos’d. The Prince is young, Fierce, and ambitious, I muſt bring together All theſe extreams, and then remove all Mediums, That each may be the others object.

   1641 (first performance), [John Denham], The Sophy. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman, […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act II, page 18

3. A format for communicating or presenting information.

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   [A]t all events, she drank in with eager ear, and admiring mind, anecdote and history of all those excellent traits of disposition, and nobleness of conduct, which made him the idol of his describer, and gave her a knowledge of his temper and character, and the manner in which his boyhood and youth had passed, which she could never have gained by any other medium, and which it was unquestionably right she should know.

   1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XLV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 272

   Too often writing—in the broadest sense—is treated as a communicational medium where the subjects of that communication are constituted prior to the writing, where the objects of that communication are also constituted prior to that writing, and where the task of writing is seen as transparently mediating between already pregiven subjects, pregiven objects, and a preconstituted mise en scène.

   2015, “Staging the Politics of Difference: Homi Bhabha's Critical Literacy, Gary A. Olson and Lynn Worsham.”, in Gary A. Olson, Lynn Worsham, Henry A. Giroux, editors, Politics of Possibility: Encountering the Radical Imagination, page 133

   Synonyms: vehicle

4. biologyA nutrient substance, commonly a solution or solid, for the growth of cells in vitro.

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   In some instances one can take advantage of differential carbohydrate fermentation capabilities of microorganisms by incorporating one or more carbohydrates in the medium along with a suitable pH indicator. Such media are called differential media (e.g., eosin methylene blue or MacConkey agar) and are commonly used to isolate enteric bacilli.

   1996, Samuel Baron, editor, Medical Microbiology

5. usuallyagricultureA substance, structure, or environment in which living organisms subsist, grow or are cultured.

   The density of the living medium of fishes exerts upon them a mechanical influence; they are, so to say, balanced in water, free to proceed in all planes of direction...

   1895, Bashford Dean., Fishes, Living and Fossil

6. A means, channel, agency or go-between through which communication, commerce, etc is conveyed or carried on, or by which an aim is achieved.

   Cable TV is an inexpensive advertising medium.

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   His loyalty to the English was doubtful and wavering, and his opposition to Post's journey was probably due to fears that his own importance as a medium between the Ohio Indians and the English would be diminished by the former's success.

   2007, Reuben Gold Thwaites, Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, Reprint Services Corporation, →ISBN, page 186

7. engineeringThe materials used to finish a workpiece using a mass finishing or abrasive blasting process.
8. countableplural mediums or mediaA liquid base which carries pigment in paint.
9. paintingA means of expression, in the arts, such as a material (oil, pastel, clay, etc) or method or style (expressionism, jazz, etc).

   Acrylics, oils, charcoal, and gouache are all mediums I used in my painting.

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   Heretofore in following the course, the student has been confined to black and white in the medium of charcoal, pen and ink or pencil. The first introduction to color is by means of the Still Life painting class.

   1898, Report of the Public Schools of the State of Missouri, Missouri: Department of Education, page 98

   It was the woodcut, however, that emerged as the favorite graphic medium of Expressionism. Rejecting the almost limitless pictorial possibilities of lithography, which had dominated printmaking during the nineteenth century, […]

   1966, John P. Sedgwick, Discovering Modern Art: The Intelligent Layman's Guide to Painting from Impressionism to Pop

   So we get a people in rebellion against a dominant majority, but forced to rebel secretly, to sublimate, as the psychologist would put it — to express themselves culturally through the medium of jaz , and linguistically through a code, a jargon ...

   1967, Barnet Kottler, Martin Light, The World of Words: A Language Reader

   Prose is not the preferred medium of expressionism, yet some outstanding individual examples come to mind, for example: Robert Walser's (1876–1956) surrealistic miniatures and novels of a dreamlike structure reminiscent of Kafka […]

   1974, Karl Siegfried Weimar, German Language and Literature: Seven Essays, Prentice Hall

   The Pulitzer board said the award was given “in recognition of his musical genius, which evoked aesthetically the principles of democracy through the medium of jazz and thus made an indelible contribution to art and culture.”

   1999, Jet, page 29

10. countablehuman sciencesThe mean or middle term of a syllogism, that by which the extremes are brought into connection.
11. countableplural mediums or (rare, nonstandard) mediaSomeone who conveys information from the spirit world.

    The hall was not too well lit and dark shadows lurked in the corners. The medium still bent her head as if her ears were straining.

    1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Which Describes an Evening in Strange Company”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019

12. countableA middle place or degree.

    a happy medium

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    [T]he Just Medium of This Case lies betwixt the Pride, and the Abjection of the Two Extreams.

    1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[The Fables of Anianus, &c.] Fab[le] 215. An Oak and a Willow, Reflexion.”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC, page 188

    Her height was pretty, […] her figure particularly graceful; her size a most becoming medium, between fat and thin, […]

    1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter II, in Emma: […], volume II, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 29

    In search of the principle on which joints ought to be roasted, to be roasted enough, and not too much, I myself referred to the Cookery Book,[…]. But the principle always failed us by some curious fatality, and we never could hit any medium between redness and cinders.

    1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, “Our Housekeeping”, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 453

13. countabledatedAn average; sometimes the mathematical mean.

    The number of Britiſh ſhips annually arriving in our ports vvas reduced to 1756 ſail, containing 92.559 tons, on a medium of the ſix years vvar, compared vvith the ſix years of peace preceding it.

    1769, [Edmund Burke], Observations on a Late State of the Nation, London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC, page 5

14. Anything of a middle rank or position.

    Cavalry […] is divided into mediums, heavies, and light cavalry.

    1891, Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, The Historic Note-book: With an Appendix of Battles, page 153

plural mediums

1. especiallynoun from verbuncountablefood or drinkbusinessOne of several common sizes to which an item may be manufactured, smaller than a large but larger than a small.

   Synonyms: M

2. countableespeciallynoun from verbfood or drinkbusinessAn item labelled or denoted as being that size.
3. countableespeciallynoun from verbOne who fits an item of that size.
4. Irelandcountabledatedinformalnoun from verbA half-pint serving of Guinness (or other stout in some regions).

1. not comparablenoun from verbobsoleteArithmetically average.
2. not comparablenoun from verbOf intermediate size, degree, amount etc.
3. not comparablenoun from verbOf meat, cooked to a point greater than rare but less than well done; typically, so the meat is still red in the centre.
4. especiallynot comparablenoun from verbfood or drinkbusinessThat is medium (the manufactured size).

1. not comparablenoun from verbTo a medium extent.

   Synonyms: mediumly