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SPANISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

medio.

half (of or related to one of two equal divisions of a whole)

5 characters2 syllables approx.Español language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈmedjo/[ˈme.ð̞jo]
  1. half (of or related to one of two equal divisions of a whole)

    media hora
    media manzana
  2. half (of or related to any large proportion of a whole)

    Medio Nueva York fue a los toros.
  3. middle (placed more or less halfway between two positions, times, or alternatives)

    clase media
  4. average (of or related to the arithmatic middle in a set of values)

    velocidad media
  5. average (of or related to a representative example of a group)

    el español medio
  6. tasteful, bourgeois (well decorated or executed but not sublime)

  7. mid (of or related to the position of vowel articulation between open and closed)

  8. middle, mediopassive (of or related to grammatical voices neither active nor passive)

  9. impressive (extremely large or good)

    Chile · emphatic · intensifier · ironic · slang
    ¡Media bolsa!
Where this word comes from

Borrowed directly from Latin medius (“half”) rather than inherited through an Old Spanish form, possibly because the likely forms *meo and *meyo would have closely resembled mear (“to piss”), ultimately from Proto-Italic *meðjos, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between”). Compare Portuguese meio, which retained its original inherited form. In reference to spiritual mediums, calqued from Latin medium. Doublet of media. Cognate with English medium.

adv/medjo/[me.ðjo]
  1. half, incompletely (indicating an action interrupted or only partially done)

    medio vestido
  2. half, kind of (particularly used to partially soften negative descriptions)

    Es medio idiota.
Where this word comes from

Borrowed directly from Latin medius (“half”) rather than inherited through an Old Spanish form, possibly because the likely forms *meo and *meyo would have closely resembled mear (“to piss”), ultimately from Proto-Italic *meðjos, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between”). Compare Portuguese meio, which retained its original inherited form. In reference to spiritual mediums, calqued from Latin medium. Doublet of media. Cognate with English medium.

noun/ˈmedjo/[ˈme.ð̞jo]
  1. half (one of two equal parts of any whole) half (any fraction with a denominator of 2)

    masculine
  2. half (one of two equal parts of any whole) medio, half-celemin (a traditional unit of dry measure equivalent to about 2.3 L)

    historical · masculine
  3. half (one of two equal parts of any whole) medio (the usual container used to measure medios)

    historical · masculine
  4. half (one of two equal parts of any whole) medio, half-real (a former coin)

    Colombia · Ecuador · Guatemala · Venezuela · historical · masculine
  5. half (one of two equal parts of any whole) medio, half-peso (a former coin)

    Dominican-Republic · historical · masculine
  6. half (one of two equal parts of any whole) medio, half-sucre (a former coin)

    Ecuador · historical · masculine
  7. half (one of two equal parts of any whole) medio, half-balboa (a former coin)

    Panama · historical · masculine
  8. half (one of two equal parts of any whole) medio, half-boliviano (a former coin)

    Bolivia · historical · masculine
  9. half (one of two equal parts of any whole) medio, half-octavo (a former coin equal to ¹⁄₁₆ real)

    Mexico · historical · masculine
  10. half (one of two equal parts of any whole) medio (following decimalization, the notional amount of 6+¹⁄₄ centavos as half of the notional amount of a ¹⁄₈-peseta real and later by extension any 5 centavo coin)

    Costa-Rica · El-Salvador · Guatemala · Honduras · Mexico · Peru · masculine · slang
  11. middle (the part of anything located halfway between its ends or extremes in time or along one dimension in space)

    masculine
    Se despertó en medio de la noche.
  12. middle (the part of anything located halfway between its ends or extremes in time or along one dimension in space) midfielder, halfback (a person forming part of the middle or central defensive or offensive line, especially in soccer)

    masculine
  13. middle (the part of anything located halfway between its ends or extremes in time or along one dimension in space) synonym of médium (“medium”) (a person claiming to the ability to communicate with the dead)

    masculine
  14. middle (the part of anything located halfway between its ends or extremes in time or along one dimension in space) cut (the payment demanded to permit or facilitate some action, especially as a bribe)

    masculine
  15. middle (the part of anything located halfway between its ends or extremes in time or along one dimension in space) middle term (the general category that appears in both premises and disappears in the conclusion)

    masculine
  16. middle (the part of anything located halfway between its ends or extremes in time or along one dimension in space) mean (the second and third terms of a proportion)

    masculine · plural-normally
  17. center, heart (the innermost part of anything with regard to all dimensions)

    masculine
    Alemania está en medio de Europa.
    en medio de la nada
  18. method, way, means (the actions or things by which some goal is achieved or intended to be achieved, something serving some purpose)

    in-plural · masculine · often
    El fin justifica los medios.
    por todos los medios
  19. method, way, means (the actions or things by which some goal is achieved or intended to be achieved, something serving some purpose) synonym of diligencia (“diligence, hard work”) (as the generally effective means to achieve any goal)

    in-plural · masculine · often
  20. method, way, means (the actions or things by which some goal is achieved or intended to be achieved, something serving some purpose) medium (a means of communication, especially mass communication)

    in-plural · masculine · often · plural-normally
  21. medium (the physical space and substance through which some phenomenon occurs)

    masculine
    La velocidad de la luz depende del medio.
  22. medium (the physical space and substance through which some phenomenon occurs) medium (the physical substances with which art is made)

    masculine
    ¿Cuál es tu medio de pintura favorito?
  23. medium (the physical space and substance through which some phenomenon occurs) environment (the circumstances that affect a person or animal's development)

    masculine
  24. medium (the physical space and substance through which some phenomenon occurs) society (the circumstances in which a person or group of people lives)

    masculine
  25. medium (the physical space and substance through which some phenomenon occurs) circle (a particular segment of society)

    masculine · plural-normally
    medios aristocráticos
  26. medium (the physical space and substance through which some phenomenon occurs) habitat (the circumstances in which an animal or group of animals lives)

    masculine
Where this word comes from

Borrowed directly from Latin medius (“half”) rather than inherited through an Old Spanish form, possibly because the likely forms *meo and *meyo would have closely resembled mear (“to piss”), ultimately from Proto-Italic *meðjos, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between”). Compare Portuguese meio, which retained its original inherited form. In reference to spiritual mediums, calqued from Latin medium. Doublet of media. Cognate with English medium.

verb/ˈmedjo/[ˈme.ð̞jo]
  1. first-person singular present indicative of mediar

    first-person · form-of · indicative · present · singular
Where this word comes from

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

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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.