Meaning & use
medium
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Neither big nor small; of an average or middle size, level or amount.
Grammar: Usually before a noun or after be: a medium pizza, the level is medium.
Patterns
- medium in size
- a medium amount of something
I'll have a medium coffee, please.
The soup was cooked on a medium heat.
He is of medium height with dark hair.
nouncountable
A way or material through which information, art or ideas are communicated.
Grammar: Plural is media: television is a powerful medium.
Patterns
- a medium for something
- through the medium of something
Radio is a medium that reaches remote villages.
Oil paint is her favorite medium.
English is the medium of instruction at the school.
nouncountable
A person who claims to pass messages between the living and the dead.
Grammar: Plural is mediums for this sense.
Patterns
- consult a medium
The medium said she could hear a voice from the other side.
They visited a medium after their grandmother's death.
The film follows a young medium who sees spirits.
nouncountabletechnical
A substance or surrounding material in which something exists or moves, such as air for sound.
Grammar: Plural is media in science: a growth medium.
Patterns
- a medium for something
Sound travels through air as a medium.
The lab grew bacteria in a nutrient medium.
Water is the medium in which fish live.
Word forms
| plural | media |
|---|---|
| plural (spirit sense) | mediums |
Common combinations
- medium size
- She ordered a medium size and it fit perfectly.
- medium rare
- He likes his steak medium rare.
- a medium of exchange
- Money is a medium of exchange.
- artistic medium
- Clay is her chosen artistic medium.
- in the medium term
- We expect prices to rise in the medium term.
Synonyms and how they differ
- average
- Average suggests a calculated middle or typical level, while medium is a middle category in a set of sizes.
- moderate
- Moderate describes amounts or opinions that are not extreme, whereas medium often names a size choice.
- channel
- Channel focuses on the path along which communication travels, while medium is the broader means.
Opposites
Word family
- mediate verb
- to help two sides reach agreement
- mediocre adjective
- of only average quality
- median adjective
- the middle value in a set
- mediocrity noun
- the state of being average
Commonly confused: medium or media? medium or median?
medium vs media
Media is the plural of medium and in modern use also means news organizations, e.g. the media.
medium vs median
Median is the exact middle value in a list of numbers, while medium means an average size.
Practice
Television and radio are both examples of a communication ___.
Choose one answer.
A medium is a means of communication. Median is a middle value, mediate is a verb, and mediocre means average.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “medium”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.