median

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French median, from Latin mediānus (“of or pertaining to the middle”, adjective), from medius (“middle”) (see medium), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“middle”). Doublet of mean and mizzen. Cognate with Old English midde, middel (“middle”). More at middle.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmiː.dɪən/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.di.ən/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈmiː.dɪən/, [ˈmɪi.di.ən]

Noun

median (plural medians)

2. (anatomy, now rare) A central vein or nerve, especially the median vein or median nerve running through the forearm and arm. [from 15th c.]
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 3, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     Why is not our jugular or throat-veine as much at our command as the mediane [translating mediane]?

   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 5, member 2:

     The Greeks prescribe the median or middle vein to be opened, and so much blood to be taken away as the patient may well spare, and the cut that is made must be wide enough.

4. (geometry) A line segment joining the vertex of triangle to the midpoint of the opposing side.
6. (statistics) A number separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, population, or probability distribution. The median of a finite list of numbers can be found by arranging all the observations from lowest value to highest value and picking the middle one (e.g., the median of {3, 3, 5, 9, 11} is 5). If there is an even number of observations, then there is no single middle value; the median is then usually defined to be the mean of the two middle values. [from 19th c.]

   Coordinate terms: medial, mean, average

8. (US) The area separating two lanes of opposite-direction traffic; the median strip. [from 20th c.]
   • 2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 134:

     Seen from street level, the median was clean most days. From the third floor you peered over the benches and trees and saw the trash crowding the subway ventilation grates and paving stones.

Adjective

median (not comparable)

2. (anatomy) Situated in a middle, central, or intermediate part, section, or range of (something). [from 16th c.]

   Coordinate terms: medial, mesial

3. (anatomy, botany) In the middle of an organ, structure etc.; towards the median plane of an organ or limb. [from 16th c.]
   • 1957, Sidney Frederic Harmer, The Polyzoa of the Siboga Expedition, page 1106:

     Cellariiform, the orifices nearly confined to the convex frontal and lateral surfaces; the basal surface with a strong median calcareous keel, almost concealed by a flat membranous epitheca, which covers the whole zoarium […]

4. (statistics) Having the median as its value. [from 19th c.]

See also

• average
• mean
• mode

Anagrams

• Damien, Eidman, Maiden, Manide, Medina, Midean, aidmen, demain, maenid, maiden, mained, medina, meidan

Adjective

median

1. accusative singular of media

Noun

median

1. genitive singular of media

Anagrams

• maiden

Etymology

From Dutch mediaan, from Latin medianus (“of or pertaining to the middle”, adjective), from medius (“middle”) (see medium), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“middle”). Doublet of madya.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [meˈdian]
• Hyphenation: mé‧di‧an

Noun

médian (plural median-median)

1. median,
   1. (statistics) the number separating the higher half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution, from the lower half
   2. (geometry) a line segment joining the vertex of triangle to the midpoint of the opposing side
   3. (road transport) the median strip; the area separating two lanes of opposite-direction traffic
2. medium, anything having a measurement intermediate between extremes, such as a garment or container

   Synonym: sedang

3. (printing, dated) pica: 12-point type
4. (printing, dated) mediaan, a former Nederland paper size, 470 mm × 560 mm

Further reading

• “median” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Etymology

Borrowed from French médian, from Latin medianus.

Adjective

median m or n (feminine singular mediană, masculine plural medieni, feminine and neuter plural mediene)

1. median

Verb

median

1. third-person plural present indicative of mediar

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin medianus; compare English median.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɑːn

Noun

median c

1. median value