medium

/mee"dee euhm/, n., pl. media /-dee euh/ for 1-9, 11, mediums for 1-11, 14, adj.

n.

1. a middle state or condition; mean.

2. something intermediate in nature or degree.

3. an intervening substance, as air, through which a force acts or an effect is produced.

4. the element that is the natural habitat of an organism.

5. surrounding objects, conditions, or influences; environment.

6. an intervening agency, means, or instrument by which something is conveyed or accomplished: Words are a medium of expression.

7. one of the means or channels of general communication, information, or entertainment in society, as newspapers, radio, or television.

8. Biol. the substance in which specimens are displayed or preserved.

9. Also called culture medium. Bacteriol. a liquid or solidified nutrient material suitable for the cultivation of microorganisms.

10. a person through whom the spirits of the dead are alleged to be able to contact the living.

11. Fine Arts.

a. Painting. a liquid with which pigments are mixed.

b. the material or technique with which an artist works: the medium of watercolor.

12. a size of printing paper, 18¹/₂ × 23¹/₂ in. (47 × 60 cm) in England, 18 × 23 to 19 × 25 in. (46 × 58 to 48 × 64 cm) in America.

13. Chiefly Brit. a size of drawing or writing paper, 17¹/₂ × 22 in. (44 × 56 cm).

14. Also called medium strip. Midland U.S. See median strip.

15. in medium, Motion Pictures, Television. with the principal actors in the middle distance: The scene was shot in medium.

adj.

16. about halfway between extremes, as of degree, amount, quality, position, or size: Cook over medium heat. He is of medium height.

[1575-85; < L: the middle, n. use of neut. of medius middle. See MID¹]

Syn. 16. average, mean, middling.

Usage. 7. See media¹.

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▪ occultism

      in occultism, a person reputedly able to make contact with the world of spirits, especially while in a state of trance. A spiritualist medium is the central figure during a séance (q.v.) and sometimes requires the assistance of an invisible go-between, or control. During a séance, disembodied voices are said to speak, either directly or through the medium. Materialization of a disembodied spirit or of a specific part of a human body can allegedly take shape from a mysterious, viscous substance called ectoplasm that exudes from the medium's body and subsequently disappears by returning to its original source. At times the medium, or a material object, appears to float in the air (levitation).

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