median

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈmiːdɪən/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈmidiən/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(mē′dē ən)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
me•di•an /ˈmidiən/USA pronunciation   adj. [usually: before a noun]
  1. situated in or relating to the middle:a low median income.

n. [countable]
  1. the middle number in a sequence of numbers, or the average of the middle two numbers of an even-numbered sequence:4 is the median of 1, 3, 4, 8, 9.
  2. a straight line from an angle of a triangle to the midpoint of the opposite side.
  3. Civil EngineeringAlso called ˈme•di•an ˈstrip. a strip in the middle of a highway to separate opposite lanes of traffic.
See -medi-.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
me•di•an  (mē′dē ən),USA pronunciation adj. 
  1. noting or pertaining to a plane dividing something into two equal parts, esp. one dividing an animal into right and left halves.
  2. situated in or pertaining to the middle;
    medial.

n. 
  1. [Arith., Statistics.]the middle number in a given sequence of numbers, taken as the average of the two middle numbers when the sequence has an even number of numbers:4 is the median of 1, 3, 4, 8, 9.
  2. [Geom.]a straight line from a vertex of a triangle to the midpoint of the opposite side.
  3. EconomicsAlso called midpoint. a vertical line that divides a histogram into two equal parts. Cf. central tendency. 
  4. Transport, Civil EngineeringSee median strip.
  • Latin mediānus in the middle. See medium, -an
  • 1535–45
me′di•an•ly, adv. 

Me•di•an  (mē′dē ən),USA pronunciation adj. 
  1. of or pertaining to Media, the Medes, or their language.

n. 
  1. a Mede.
  2. the Iranian language of ancient Media, contemporaneous with Old Persian.
  • Medi(a) + -an 1595–1605

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
median / ˈmiːdɪən/
  1. of, relating to, situated in, or directed towards the middle
  2. of or relating to the median
  1. a middle point, plane, or part
  2. a straight line joining one vertex of a triangle to the midpoint of the opposite side
  3. a straight line joining the midpoints of the nonparallel sides of a trapezium
  4. the middle value in a frequency distribution, below and above which lie values with equal total frequencies
Etymology: 16th Century: from Latin mediānus, from medius middleˈmedianly
'median' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Cyclops - LD - MLD - abduct - abduction - adduct - anal fin - anticlinal - bifid - box plot - carpal tunnel syndrome - central tendency - centroid - dispersion - distal - divided highway - dorsal fin - epigastrium - external - glossa - horn - hypogastrium - interclavicle - lethal dose - mdn - mean - mean deviation - mean lethal dose - measure of central tendency - medial - median lethal dose - median plane - median point - median strip - mediastinum - medic - medick - medium - medium strip - mezzanine - midline - midpoint - mode - monorhinous - nauplius - neutral ground - normal distribution - nose - orthostichy - parietal eye

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