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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

medium.

The material of the surrounding environment, e.g. solid, liquid, gas, vacuum, or a specific substance such as a solvent.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈmiː.di.əm/
  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.

  3. A format for communicating or presenting information.

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

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

    usually
  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.
  7. The materials used to finish a workpiece using a mass finishing or abrasive blasting process.

  8. A liquid base which carries pigment in paint.

    countable
  9. A 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.
  10. The mean or middle term of a syllogism, that by which the extremes are brought into connection.

    countable
  11. Someone who conveys information from the spirit world.

    countable
  12. A middle place or degree.

    countable
    a happy medium
  13. An average; sometimes the mathematical mean.

    countable · dated
  14. Anything of a middle rank or position.

Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Latin medium, neuter of medius (“middle”), from Proto-Italic *meðjos, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between”). Compare middle. Doublet of mid, medio, media, and meson.

noun/ˈmiː.di.əm/
  1. One of several common sizes to which an item may be manufactured, smaller than a large but larger than a small.

    especially · noun-from-verb · uncountable
  2. An item labelled or denoted as being that size.

    countable · especially · noun-from-verb
  3. One who fits an item of that size.

    countable · especially · noun-from-verb
  4. A half-pint serving of Guinness (or other stout in some regions).

    Ireland · countable · dated · informal · noun-from-verb
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Latin medium, neuter of medius (“middle”), from Proto-Italic *meðjos, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between”). Compare middle. Doublet of mid, medio, media, and meson.

adj/ˈmiː.di.əm/
  1. Arithmetically average.

    not-comparable · noun-from-verb · obsolete
  2. Of intermediate size, degree, amount etc.

    not-comparable · noun-from-verb
  3. Of meat, cooked to a point greater than rare but less than well done; typically, so the meat is still red in the centre.

    not-comparable · noun-from-verb
  4. That is medium (the manufactured size).

    especially · not-comparable · noun-from-verb
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Latin medium, neuter of medius (“middle”), from Proto-Italic *meðjos, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between”). Compare middle. Doublet of mid, medio, media, and meson.

adv/ˈmiː.di.əm/
  1. To a medium extent.

    not-comparable · noun-from-verb
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Latin medium, neuter of medius (“middle”), from Proto-Italic *meðjos, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between”). Compare middle. Doublet of mid, medio, media, and meson.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.