median

Meanings

1. 1nouncountablemathematicstechnical

   The middle number in a list of numbers arranged in order, with half the values above it and half below.

   Grammar: Countable: the median of the set.

   Patterns

   • the median of something

   The median of 3, 5, and 9 is 5.

   The median income in the town is lower than the average.

   Students scored above the median on the test.

2. 2nouncountableAmerican

   A strip of land or barrier between lanes of traffic going in opposite directions.

   Grammar: American usage for the strip in the road; British English often says central reservation.

   The car stopped on the grassy median.

   Trees were planted along the median.

3. 3adjectivebefore a nountechnical

   Located in or relating to the middle value or middle position.

   Grammar: Comes before a noun: the median age.

   The median age of residents is 38.

Word forms

Common combinations

median income

Median income rose slightly last year.

median age

The median age of the group is 30.

median price

The median price of a home is high.

median strip

Flowers grew on the median strip.

Synonyms and how they differ

middle value

Middle value is a plain way to explain the median in everyday terms.

midpoint

Midpoint is the halfway point between two ends, which may differ from the median of data.

average

Average usually means the mean, which can be pulled up or down by extreme values, unlike the median.

Word family

mean noun

the sum divided by the count

mode noun

the most frequent value

Commonly confused: median or medium?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “median”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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