Word: medium Part of Speech: noun Etymology: 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. Pronunciation: /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. Example: VVhether any other Liquours, being made Mediums, cauſe a Diuerſity of Sound from Water, it may bee tried: […] Example: 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. 3. A format for communicating or presenting information. Example: [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. Example: 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. 4. A nutrient substance, commonly a solution or solid, for the growth of cells in vitro. Example: 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. 5. A substance, structure, or environment in which living organisms subsist, grow or are cultured. Labels: usually Example: 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... 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. Example: Cable TV is an inexpensive advertising medium. Example: 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. 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. Labels: countable 9. A means of expression, in the arts, such as a material (oil, pastel, clay, etc) or method or style (expressionism, jazz, etc). Example: Acrylics, oils, charcoal, and gouache are all mediums I used in my painting. Example: 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. 10. The mean or middle term of a syllogism, that by which the extremes are brought into connection. Labels: countable 11. Someone who conveys information from the spirit world. Labels: countable Example: 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. 12. A middle place or degree. Labels: countable Example: a happy medium Example: [T]he Just Medium of This Case lies betwixt the Pride, and the Abjection of the Two Extreams. 13. An average; sometimes the mathematical mean. Labels: countable, dated Example: 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. 14. Anything of a middle rank or position. Example: Cavalry […] is divided into mediums, heavies, and light cavalry.