Medium

A medium (plural media - itdirectlyLatin word meaning "the one inmiddle", although mediumsalso sometimes used) iscarriersomething -- inmost popular sense,information, mostly human ideas. Depending onactual characteristics ofmedium,provides transmission or storageinformation or both.

For example:

Speech, gestures, telephone.
Stone scores, audiovideo recordings, hard disks
Paper, letter mail
Mass media: recitations, newspaper, magazine, movies, broadcast media (television, radio, streaming media), Compact discss, DVDs
Interactive media: computer games, online games, video games, edutainment, interactive television
The Internet ismixmass mediapersonal media
In art,medium meansmaterialwhich an artist works: paint, wood, marble, steel, etc.
In biologychemistry,solvent serves asmediummolecules.

By metonymy,industries which produce newsentertainment content formass mediaoften called "the media" (in muchsame waynewspaper industrycalled "the press"). Inlate 20th centurybecame commonplacethis usagebe construed as singular ("The media is...") rather thantraditional plural.

Marshall McLuhan was famoussaying (among other things), "The medium ismessage."

Tablecontents

1 See also:
2 Regional:
3 External Links

Regional:

Mediumalsoterm usedan individual who claimsabilityreceive messages from spirits, ghosts, or other discorporate entities, or claims thatcan channel such entities (that is, speak or write withvoicethese entities rather thantheir own voice). While many believe that such individualseither self deluded orsimply charlatans, popular mediums often have many followers who believe stronglytheir purported abilities. Examplespopular modern-day mediumsSylvia Brown John Edward.

External Links

Medium also refersan average or mean inrangesizes or conditions. Usually,termused when thereonlyfew different sizes inrange, rather than many. For example, items such as drinks atfast food restaurant might comethree sizes: Small, Medium,Large.

A footnote:peculiarities ofEnglish language,its redundant use ofsame wordsdifferent things, allows English speakersmake such statements as "Small medium at large!" thatboth comprehensiblemildly amusing.