Medium Meaning
/ˈmiː.di.əm/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe material of the surrounding environment, e.g. solid, liquid, gas, vacuum, or a specific substance such as a solvent.
nounThe materials or empty space through which signals, waves, or forces pass.
Sentence Examples
The air is a medium for sound.
One large fries and two medium cokes.
Television is a very important medium through which to provide information.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
She ordered a ____ coffee at the cafe because she didn't want small or large.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The artist used oil paint as her primary ____ for the series of portraits she exhibited in the gallery.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"VVhether any other Liquours, being made Mediums, cauſe a Diuerſity of Sound from Water, it may bee tried: […]"
— 1631, Francis [Bacon], “III. Century. [Experiments in Consort, Touching the Medium of Sounds.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, paragraph 220, page 60:
"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."
— 1641 (first performance), [John Denham], The Sophy. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman, […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act II, page 18:
"[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."
— 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XLV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 272:
"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."
— 2015, “Staging the Politics of Difference: Homi Bhabha's Critical Literacy, Gary A. Olson and Lynn Worsham.”, in Gary A. Olson, Lynn Worsham, Henry A. Giroux, editors, Politics of Possibility: Encountering the Radical Imagination, page 133:
"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."
— 1996, Samuel Baron, editor, Medical Microbiology:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She ordered a ____ coffee at the cafe because she didn't want small or large.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The artist used oil paint as her primary ____ for the series of portraits she exhibited in the gallery.