Medium

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Medium \Me"di*um\, n.; pl. L. {Media}, {E}. {Mediums}. [L.
     medium the middle, fr. medius middle. See {Mid}, and cf.
     {Medius}.]
     1. That which lies in the middle, or between other things;
        intervening body or quantity. Hence, specifically:
        (a) Middle place or degree; mean.


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                  The just medium . . . lies between pride and
                  abjection.                        --L'Estrange.
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        (b) (Math.) See {Mean}.
        (c) (Logic) The mean or middle term of a syllogism; that
            by which the extremes are brought into connection.
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     2. A substance through which an effect is transmitted from
        one thing to another; as, air is the common medium of
        sound. Hence: The condition upon which any event or action
        occurs; necessary means of motion or action; that through
        or by which anything is accomplished, conveyed, or carried
        on; specifically, in animal magnetism, spiritualism, etc.,
        a person through whom the action of another being is said
        to be manifested and transmitted.
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              Whether any other liquors, being made mediums, cause
              a diversity of sound from water, it may be tried.
                                                    --Bacon.
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              I must bring together
              All these extremes; and must remove all mediums.
                                                    --Denham.
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     3. An average. [R.]
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              A medium of six years of war, and six years of
              peace.                                --Burke.
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     4. A trade name for printing and writing paper of certain
        sizes. See {Paper}.
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     5. (Paint.) The liquid vehicle with which dry colors are
        ground and prepared for application.
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     6. (Microbiology) 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]
  
     7. 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.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Medium \Me"di*um\, a.
     Having a middle position or degree; mean; intermediate;
     medial; as, a horse of medium size; a decoction of medium
     strength.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  medium
       adj 1: around the middle of a scale of evaluation of physical
              measures; "an orange of average size"; "intermediate
              capacity"; "a plane with intermediate range"; "medium
              bombers" [syn: {average}, {intermediate}]
       2: (of meat) cooked until there is just a little pink meat
          inside
       n 1: a means or instrumentality for storing or communicating
            information
       2: the surrounding environment; "fish require an aqueous
          medium"
       3: an intervening substance through which signals can travel as
          a means for communication
       4: (bacteriology) a nutrient substance (solid or liquid) that
          is used to cultivate micro-organisms [syn: {culture medium}]
       5: an intervening substance through which something is
          achieved; "the dissolving medium is called a solvent"
       6: a liquid with which pigment is mixed by a painter
       7: (biology) a substance in which specimens are preserved or
          displayed
       8: a state that is intermediate between extremes; a middle
          position; "a happy medium"
       9: someone who serves as an intermediary between the living and
          the dead; "he consulted several mediums" [syn: {spiritualist}]
       10: transmissions that are disseminated widely to the public
           [syn: {mass medium}]
       11: an occupation for which you are especially well suited; "in
           law he found his true metier" [syn: {metier}]
       [also: {media} (pl)]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  349 Moby Thesaurus words for "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