Mediann.¹adj.¹

Brit.

/ˈmiːdɪən/, U.S.

/ˈmidiən/

Forms: Middle English Medayne, Middle English Medien, Middle English Medoyne, Middle English– Median, 1500s– Medean.

Origin: Probably partly a borrowing from French. Probably partly a borrowing from Latin, combined with an English element. Etymons: French Medien , Medain ; Latin Mēdia , -an suffix.

Etymology: Probably partly < Anglo-Norman Medien (13th cent.) and Middle French Medain, and partly independently < classical Latin Mēdia ( < Mēdus Mede n. + -ia -ia suffix¹) + -an suffix. Compare ancient Greek Μηδία and Medic adj.² and n.²The form Medoyne in quot. ?a1425 at sense A. 1 is probably after Massidoyne , variant of Macedon n., which directly follows it in that passage. Some instances of the form Medean may represent an independent formation < Mede n. + -an suffix rather than a spelling variant of this word.

A. n.¹

1. = Mede n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Near East, Middle East, or Asia Minor > native or inhabitant of Iran, Iraq, or the Gulf > [noun]

MedeeOE

Persianc1375

Persec1384

Medianc1400

Lydian1545

Mesopotamian1553

Meccana1618

Ma'dan1792

Omanic1819

Iraqi1824

Yemenite1864

Sumerian1873

Akkadian1908

Yemeni1916

Marsh Arab1917

Medinese1922

Iraqian1923

Kuwaiti1928

Tehrani1939

Qatari1954

c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 3689 (MED) Hij seiȝen come Darries Perciens..Arabyens..and ek Mediens.

?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 38 Þis land of Ierusalem has bene in many diuerse naciouns handes, as Iews..men of Perse, Medoynes, Massidoynes.

c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica iii. 164 In Sardanapalus dayes the hole empire of Assirians was brought to subieccion vnto the domynyon of the Medians.

1572 R. Harrison tr. L. Lavater Of Ghostes i. xii. 5 The Grecians, running and setting on the barbarous Medians.

1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) f. 39 The Græcians somewhat cowardly in y^e war against the Medeans..were by and by incensed te bataille.

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. vi. xv. 122 Two citties of the Parthians, built sometimes as forts opposite against the Medians.

1701 M. Pix Double Distress i. 7 Now the haughty Medeans from Euphrates Banks And Babylon's exalted Towers, Have to Persepolis their bloody Standards rear'd.

1774 W. H. Roberts Judah Restored I. iii. 78 The Median, struck With pity and remorse, down drops his sword.

1818 H. H. Milman Samor viii. 226 When the Median's brow the massy tiar Let fall.

1901 Expositor Nov. 344 Gobryas, the general of Cyrus, a Median, appeared before Sippara.

1988 Oxf. Illustr. Encycl. III. 95/1 The Medians had access to important administrative posts.

2. The ancient Indo-Iranian (Old Iranian) language of the Medes, related to Old Persian. Cf. Medic n.²

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Indo-Iranian > Iranian > Median

Median1813

Medic1880

1813 Q. Rev. Oct. 257 Languages and Dialects... Median. Zendish. Pehlvish. Persian. Kurdish.

1841 R. G. Latham Eng. Lang. i. i. 3 The Ossetic, a language spoken by an insulated tribe of Mount Caucasus, and a supposed remnant of the Ancient Median, is Indo-European.

1848 Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 21 ii. Science 241 In Median..sounds were sometimes confounded.

1848 Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 21 ii. Science 244 I..observed some Median words transcribed in one of the inscriptions, and a few other words that, though altered, appeared to be of Persian or Median origin.

1908 T. G. Tucker Introd. Nat. Hist. Lang. 189 It has, however, been argued strongly that the Avestic language is in reality Old Median.

1939 L. H. Gray Found. Lang. 32 From the New Testament..we know that in the first century a.d. Parthian, Median, Elamite, Cappadocian, Pontic, Phrygian, Pamphylian, Cretic.., and Arabic were spoken.

1950 R. G. Kent Old Persian i. i. 6/2 Among the less known Old Iranian languages the most important was Median.

B. adj.¹

1. Of or belonging to the Medes, their language, or Media. See Mede n. [In quot. 1577, Heresbach's Latin has medica ; compare Medic adj.², and Hellenistic Greek μῆλον Μηδικόν citron (lit. ‘apple, fruit, of Media’), Citrus medica.]

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Near East, Middle East, and Asia Minor > [adjective] > Asia Minor > specific lands

Pontic?1556

Aeolian1567

Hyrcan1567

Median1577

Albanian1578

Parthian1581

Lycaonian1582

Lydian1584

Anatolian1590

Cilician1597

Lycian1598

Hyrcanian1600

Cappadocian1607

Mysian1613

Chaldaic1662

Pergamenian1680

Sogdian1700

Chaldean1732

Carian1818

Pontine1832

Anatolic1853

Medic1869

Sumerian1874

Mitannian1897

Mitannite1911

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 91 The Cytron, called also the Median, the Persian and the Assyrian Apple.

1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 1st Pt. sig. A7^v Thy Garments shall be made of Medean silke, Enchast with precious iuelles of mine owne.

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xii. iii. 359 The Citron tree, called..by some, the Median Apple-tree.

1701 M. Pix Double Distress i. 2 When proud Astiages the Medean Throne Had mounted Young, all Eyes were fix'd on him; vast Expectation hung upon his Actions.

a1711 T. Ken in W. Hawkins Short Acct. Life Thomas Ken (1713) 88 Either the Babylonian, or the Median, or the Persian Idolatries.

1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. i. 6 The independent tribes of the Median and Carduchian hills had implored his protection.

1835 J. W. Ord England II. 61 On gold and silver looms my garments fair Were woven..: Embroider'd variously with Medean silk; more white than thistle down, or morning's milk.

1839 Penny Cycl. XV. 54/2 Pharaortes..greatly extended the Median empire.

1859 A. H. Clough tr. Plutarch Lives V. 208 Alexander was brought out before the people in the Median costume, the tiara and upright peak.

1945 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 75 78/2 Median tribes (now represented by the Kurds) must have penetrated deep into Asia Minor.

1973 R. L. Fox Alexander the Great xi. 160 White horses from the Median fields.

1988 Oxf. Illustr. Encycl. III. 1/1 Cyrus' predecessors ruled Parsumash, a vassal state of the Median empire.

†2. [With allusion to the law of the Medes and Persians at law n.¹ 1c.] Unchanging. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > change > absence of change, changelessness > [adjective]

fasteOE

inunvariable1535

uniform1559

changeless1575

unvariant1582

wasteless1589

unchanging1595

inherent1601

unselfchanging1605

shiftless1606

ne'er-changinga1616

waxlessa1618

immutable1621

equal1626

irreducible1633

indiminishable1641

imprevaricable1644

Median1649

undiminishable1653

assiduous1661

unvarying1690

unfluctuating1723

unrelapsing1740

stable1742

unarbitrary1793

untransferable1794

unaltering1813

constant1817

all-or-nothing1853

all-or-none1864

reducelessc1864

unaugmentable1868

invariant1874

inadaptive1886

plateaued1899

steady state1909

hardcore1951

homoeostatic1955

monochromatic1959

1649 Some Considerations Nature Oath 11 How long shall I be bound by this Oath! shall I make Median and Persian Oaths, that can never be recalled?

1782 W. Dease Observ. Cure Hydrocele Ded. p. ix Or shall an incidental phrase..be considered as the only part of it, endued with the sacred character of the Median laws?

1871 Scribner's Monthly Jan. 345 The belief..that a front parlor must be like a back one; that one side of a chimney pier must just reflect the other..—laws which are Medean and Persian laws to tradesmen and conservative, safe, respectable furnishers, but not laws with which we are concerned.

1882 H. S. Holland Logic & Life (1885) 2 A Median kingdom..whose laws..never know..change.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

mediann.²adj.²

Brit.

/ˈmiːdɪən/, U.S.

/ˈmidiən/

Forms: late Middle English medine, late Middle English medyne, late Middle English–1500s mediane, 1500s medyan, 1500s– median.

Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin mediana, mediānus.

Etymology: As noun < post-classical Latin mediana median vein (first half of the 13th cent. in a British source; also in continental sources), use as noun (short for vena mediana median vein) of feminine of classical Latin mediānus (see below); as adjective < classical Latin mediānus that is in the middle < medius middle (see medium n. and adj.) + -ānus -an suffix. Compare Middle French, French médian (adjective and noun: see below), Spanish mediano (1070; also in form miano 901), Italian mediano (a1338), Portuguese mediano (15th cent.). Compare mean adj.²A number of the senses are attested at a similar or earlier date in French (1425 as mediaine in sense A. 1; 1867 in sense A. 4); with sense B. 3a compare French valeur médiane (1843).

A. n.²

1. Anatomy. A vein, nerve, etc., in the middle of an organ or part; spec. the median vein or nerve of the forearm and arm (see median nerve n., median vein n. at Compounds). Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > vascular system > blood vessel > vein > [noun] > specific vein

middle veina1398

portaa1398

saphena1398

funisa1400

sciaticaa1400

guidesc1400

haemorrhoidc1400

salvatellac1400

liver veina1425

median?a1425

mesaraic?a1425

sciatic?a1425

venal artery?a1425

sciat1503

organal vein1523

axillar?1541

weeping vein1543

port-vein1586

lip-vein1598

nose vein1598

sciatic vein1598

cephalic vein1599

hollow vein1605

jugular1615

scapulary1615

subclavian vein1615

umbilical vessel1615

basilica1625

porter-vein1625

neck vein1639

garter-vein1656

matricious vein1656

sacred vein1656

subclavicular1656

subclavial1664

vertebral1718

portal vein1765

cava1809

satellite vein1809

brachial1859

innominate vein1866

precaval1866

postcava1882

precava1882

postcaval1891

Vesalian vein1891

sciatic1892

subcardinal1902

the world > life > the body > nervous system > nerve > specific nerves > [noun] > nerves in arm

median?a1425

radial1723

musculo-spiral1899

ulnar1899

a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 159 Ij braunchis..cephalica [and]..basilica maken oon veyne þat is clepid mediana.]

?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 156^v (MED) And þai halde þe stede of mediane, i. myddel veyne [L. locum mediane].

?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 538 Of the whiche veynes þere ben 12 in the armes, þat is to say, two medynes [L. mediane] and two þat ben cleped cephalice, [etc.].

?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens iv. sig. Miij Howe many and what veynes are to be let blode in the body?.. There be .xij amyd the armes that is to wyte two medyans, two cephalykes [etc.].

1564 W. Bullein Dialogue against Fever Pestilence f. 30^v Fower vnces [of blood must be letten]..sometyme in the Median, sometyme in the Basilica.

1663 N. Culpeper Two Treat. 6 In Summer open still the Liver-vein. In Spring, that of the Heart cal'd Median.

1800 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 90 103 The median proceeding along the arm, with the large blood-vessels, and giving off two branches of communication with the ulnar nerve.

1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 9 The simultaneous examination of the medians [sc. nerves] can only be made by crossing the hands.

1990 Brain 113 1501 Studies of somatosensory evoked potentials..on stimulation of the median nerve or median-innervated fingers.

†2. Something that is in an intermediate condition. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > condition of being mean or average > [noun] > mean

middlingOE

middlelOE

meanc1450

neutralityc1475

moyen1484

temper?1523

mediety1573

medium1593

temperature1598

temperament1604

intermedial1605

median1635

intermediate1650

average1737

middle term1754

mesne1821

intermediacy1836

intermediary1865

1635 D. Person Varieties i. 16 Fumes are medians betwixt fire and earth, in respect that they are easily transmuted or changed in the one or the other.

3. Statistics. A quantity, term, or value that is the midpoint of a set of values, such that the variable has an equal probability of falling above or below it; the middle term of a discrete series arranged in order of magnitude (or, if there is no middle term, the mean of the middle two terms).

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > distribution > measures of central tendency

meanc1450

median1784

mode1895

1784 R. Price Let. 29 Jan. in Corr. (1991) II. 211 It would be difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain the median of annuities payable to Widows, in order to discover the capital necessary to be raised.

1882 F. Galton in Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1881 245 The Median, in height, weight, or any other attribute, is the value which is exceeded by one-half of an infinitely large group, and which the other half falls short of.

1895 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 186 345 Thus the ‘mean’, the ‘mode’, and the ‘median’ have all distinct characters.

1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 287/1 The median (that point which has as many of the given observations above as below it).

1935 J. H. Cover Retail Price Behavior 86 Though it appears that the median may be more satisfactory for a retail price index, the mean is more logical for a cost-of-living index.

1954 M. Beresford Lost Villages Eng. ix. 288 In the receipts of 1377 we have only the constables' names to add flesh and blood to the averages, modal ranges and medians of statistical calculations.

1991 S. J. Gould Bully for Brontosaurus xxxii. 473 Means are higher than medians in such cases because one millionaire may outweigh hundreds of poor people in setting a mean, but can balance only one mendicant in calculating a median.

4. Geometry. Each of three lines drawn from the vertices of a triangle to the midpoints of the opposite sides. Also (in extended use): a line between two opposite sides of a quadrilateral.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun] > other

medial line1570

radius1590

lineature1630

foot line1658

rectification1685

axis1734

slant side1824

radiant1842

transverse1867

median1883

bilinear1923

the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun] > set or system of > line in

radius1774

ray1856

median1883

symmedian, or symmedian line1885

1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 15/1 If a, b, c be the three sides of a triangle, and α, β, γ the three medians, i.e., the lines drawn from the angles to the middle points of the opposite sides.

1888 H. S. Hall & F. H. Stevens Text-bk. Euclid's Elem. (1894) 105 The medians of a triangle are concurrent.

1941 Amer. Math. Monthly 48 539 Both a given triangle and its parallel triangle have the same medians and median point.

1989 VNR Conc. Encycl. Math. (ed. 2) vii. 158 The three medians of a triangle intersect in a single point, the centre of gravity of the triangle.

5. U.S. = median strip n. at Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > for wheeled vehicles > dual carriageway > central reservation

reservation1887

reserve1923

median1944

1944 Policy on Grade Separations for Intersecting Highways (Amer. Assoc. State Highway Officials) 36 It is practicable to span four lanes and a narrow median without a central pier.

1976 N.Y. Times 25 Sept. 18 There is much..benefit to be gained by refashioning the old highway into a promenade with a grass median bracketed by bicycle lanes.

1985 New Yorker 18 Nov. 49/1 I take a corner too fast, bump into a curb, then bounce up on the median.

1992 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. 27 Dec. a5/5 A state Highway Department fence in the median prevented him from crossing over.

B. adj.²

1. Situated in a middle or intermediate position; middle; intermediate; †neutral (obsolete).

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > middle > [adjective]

middleeOE

midmosteOE

mid1273

mean1340

middlemosta1400

mediate?1440

moyen1481

median1592

intermedial1599

intermediate1648

mede1706

intermediary1788

the world > space > relative position > central condition or position > [adjective] > situated in the centre or middle

mideOE

middleeOE

mean1340

midwarda1400

moyen1481

centrica1593

midway1608

centricala1631

umbilical1742

middling1747

median1771

focal1825

1592 R. Dallington tr. F. Colonna Hypnerotomachia 18 Then in the voide over the Isopleures make foure Mediane prickes, drawing lines from one to another and they will make the Rhombus.

1645 R. Overton Sacred Decretall 11 Not knowing which way the Dice would fall, we kept ourselves in a direct Median Posture, that wee might be sure notwithstanding, which way soever it went.

1656 T. Blount Glossographia Median, the middle, half, mean; not deserving praise or dispraise.

1771 E. Ledwich Antiquitates Sarisburienses 13 The Gates and the median rampart.

1877 J. Sully Pessimism 244 In the lower and median latitudes of our emotional life.

1983 W. Byron tr. A. Le Vot F. Scott Fitzgerald (1984) iv. xi. 163 Dancing is a median condition between the soul's sadness and the body's demands.

a. Anatomy, Zoology, and Botany. In the middle of a body, part, or organ; central, between others; spec. designating structures in the middle of the anterior aspect of the human forearm. Later also: situated in or directed towards the median plane of a body, organ, or limb.

ΚΠ

1592 T. Nashe Strange Newes sig. K2^v This I will proudly boast..that the vaine which I haue (be it a median vaine, or a madde man) is of my owne begetting.

1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 901 It lyeth under the foresaide humerall veyne where the Median or Common veyne ariseth thereout.

1831 R. Knox tr. H. Cloquet Syst. Human Anat. (ed. 2) 85 The last-mentioned suture, designated by the name of the Median or Frontal,..is generally indistinct.

1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. I. 706/1 The median parts of the lobes of the mantle [in Conchifera] are extremely thin.

1840 E. Blyth et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom 197 The Great Tit..with a black median list down the belly.

1890 Cent. Dict. Shackle-vein, a vein of the horse, apparently the median antebrachial, from which blood used to be let.

1894 R. B. Sharpe Hand-bk. Birds Great Brit. I. 35 The lesser and median wing-coverts white.

1900 B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms 153/2 Median Wall, in Archegoniates, the wall in a plane at right angles to the basal wall dividing the proëmbryo into lateral halves.

1965 K. Esau Plant Anat. (ed. 2) xvi. 434 In some large grasses the median part of the blade is thickened into a midrib.

1986 A. S. Romer & T. S. Parsons Vertebr. Body (ed. 6) xi. 362 Embryologically, the lungs first appear in the form of a ventral outpocketing of the floor of the throat, median in position.

b. Surgery. Designating a surgical incision or procedure made through the midline of the body or over or through the midline of a tumour, organ, etc. See also median lithotomy n. at Compounds.

ΚΠ

1891 Lancet 18 Apr. 907/1 He makes a median incision over the tumour.

1968 Brit. Jrnl. Plastic Surg. 21 415 In Ragnell's operation the bone chips are inserted through a median columellar incision.

1985 M. F. Myles Textbk. Midwives (ed. 10) xxxiii. 615 The median incision does not provide as much space as the medio-lateral incision.

1991 Singapore Med. Jrnl. 32 119 An analysis of upper thoracic sympathectomy for palmar hyperhydrosis performed..via several surgical approaches suggests that the posterior median approach is preferable.

2000 Cardiovascular Surg. 8 31 The carotid artery was first exposed, followed by median sternotomy, systemic heparinization, cannulation and cardiopulmonary bypass.

3. Statistics.

a. Designating a value, quantity, etc., that is a median (sense A. 3).

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [adjective] > relating to distribution > of measures of central tendency

median1882

modal1897

multimodal1899

bimodal1903

polymodal1910

unimodal1923

trimodal1927

1882 F. Galton in Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1881 248 Men of 22 years, having a median height of 67.6 inches, would have an interquartile range of 4.4 inches.

1885 F. Galton in Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. Feb. 276 The value which 50 per cent. exceeded, and 50 per cent. fell short of, is the Median Value.

1894 Times 19 Dec. 12/2 If graphically arranged, they would present a ‘curve of error’, the ‘median ordinate’ of which (to use a phrase familiar to the new school of statisticians) would yield a sentence far more satisfactory and just than many that are every week awarded.

1900 Boston Transcript Mar. The average age of the population of the United States..is twenty-five years; the median age is twenty-one years. The latter means the point at which there are as many people above as below.

1955 G. Gorer Exploring Eng. Char. xiv. 242 The very poor and the most prosperous have fewer non-worshippers than those in the median income ranges.

1973 Daily Tel. 30 Jan. 7/1 The Statistical Office report shows the median wage for Northamptonshire as £1,260.

1992 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 19 Feb. 44/1 Median house prices have risen in all but one of the areas.

b. More generally: average. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > condition of being mean or average > [adjective]

evenc1300

mean1340

middlingc1485

intermediate1665

half-way1694

middle1699

medium1764

average1770

median1912

middle-range1924

1912 J. Stephens Charwoman's Daughter 136 Her terms were accepted as median exactitudes.

1928 Y. Henderson & M. R. Davie Incomes & Living Costs University 31 The median amount earned by extra teaching.

Compounds

median artery n. Anatomy and Zoology an artery occupying a middle or midline position; spec. a branch of the anterior interosseous artery that accompanies the median nerve.

ΚΠ

1839–47 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. III. 656/2 The artery thus formed is called the anterior median artery of the spinal cord.

1913 Cunningham's Text-bk. Anat. (ed. 4) 1031 The median, the radial, and the ulnar arteries are of later formation.

2000 Jrnl. Anat. 196 193 The common palmar digital artery III [in the Bactrian camel] was the continuation of the median artery, which divided into medial and lateral branches.

median eminence n. Anatomy a slightly raised area of the tuber cinereum of the hypothalamus, at the base of the infundibulum.

ΚΠ

1947 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 232 395 They suggested that the supraoptico-hypophysial tract regulates the secretion of the anti-diuretic hormone by the neural division of the hypophysis, the term neural division being used so as to include the median eminence and infundibular stem, as well as the infundibular process.

1965 Amer. Jrnl. Anat. 117 251 (title) Electron microscopic observations of neurosecretory granules, nerve and glial fibers, and blood vessels in the median eminence of the rabbit.

2000 Jrnl. Compar. Neurol. 419 244 Double-labeling studies showed colocalization of the two receptors in neurons of the lateral septum, but not in the median eminence or in the arcuate nucleus.

median lethal dose n. the dose of a drug or of ionizing radiation that kills 50 per cent of test subjects; symbol LD₅₀.

ΚΠ

1927 J. W. Trevan in Proc. Royal Soc. B. 101 483 Toxicity should be stated primarily in terms of the ‘median lethal dose’, that is the dose which kills 50 per cent. of a large group of animals.

1947 Radiology 49 320/2 The total amount of energy absorbed as beta rays to produce the same effect is given by the product of the median lethal dose in rep times the surface area of the animal..divided by the absorption coefficient of the particular beta emission used.

1994 Vet. & Human Toxicol. 36 295 Twenty-four hour ip median lethal doses (LD₅₀) of freeze-dried aqueous extracts..were determined.

median line n. (a) Anatomy, Zoology, and Botany. [compare French ligne médiane (1823 in anatomy)] , any line in the median plane, esp. the midline; (b) gen. [compare classical Latin mediāna līnea (geom.), French ligne medienne line situated in the middle (1607), ligne médiane (1873 in geom.)] , a line exactly through the middle of something; a line exactly between two things, esp. joining points equidistant from each.

ΚΠ

1822 N. Amer. Rev. July 148 The stomach is disposed without any regard to the median line, and one half of it bears no resemblance to the other.

1875 J. Croll Climate & Time xiv. 229 During a glacial period in the northern hemisphere the median line between the trades would be shifted..south of the equator.

1960 D. C. Braungart & R. Buddeke Introd. Animal Biol. (ed. 5) xviii. 260 On the dorsal median line of the head slightly in front of the eyes is located a light-colored area known as the brow spot.

1997 Daily Tel. 16 Apr. 25/3 Transitional arrangements would need to be negotiated with countries bordering the North Sea and the English Channel, but this would be on the basis of asserting our rights out to 200 miles or the median line, whichever is closer.

† median lithotomy n. Surgery Obsolete lithotomy performed using an incision through the perineal raphe (opposed to lateral lithotomy).

ΚΠ

1854 G. Allarton Lithotomy Simplified 42 The spot selected for the incision in the median operation.]

1863 G. Allarton (title) A treatise on modern median lithotomy.

1889 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon at Lithotomy Marian L., the older form of median lithotomy.

median nerve n. [compare post-classical Latin medianum nervum (late 4th cent.), French nerf médian (1765)] Anatomy and Zoology a nerve occupying a middle or midline position; spec. a main nerve of the forearm that arises from the medial and lateral cords of the brachial plexus.

ΚΠ

1807 R. Morris & J. Kendrick Edinb. Med. & Physical Dict. II Median nerve, the second branch of the brachial plexus.

1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 183/2 The fact that the nerve tube is dorsal..suggests that the Craniates' ancestor had a dorsal median nerve.

1990 New Age Oct. 34/2 The debilitating hand and wrist disorder known as carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)—a disease of the median nerve in the wrist that is increasingly identified with keyboard use.

median plane n. [compare French plan médian (1823)] Anatomy, Zoology, and Botany the plane that divides a body, organ, etc., into (roughly) symmetrical halves; the sagittal plane.

ΚΠ

1830 R. Knox tr. P. A. Béclard Elements Gen. Anat. 30 Their organs of sensation and motion are disposed in pairs on the two sides of an axis, or median plane.

1884 F. O. Bower & D. H. Scott tr. H. A. de Bary Compar. Anat. Phanerogams & Ferns 160 The median plane of the lens-shaped double cavity.

1945 Amer. Heart Jrnl. 29 4 Abduction is movement away from the median plane of the body.

1980 Gray's Anat. (ed. 36) vi. 633/1 The structures which pass through the upper opening of the thorax fall naturally into two groups, viz.: those in or near the median plane and those placed more laterally.

median point n. (a) Geometry the point of intersection of the medians of a triangle (the centroid); (b) the point of intersection of a north–south and an east–west line, each dividing a population into equal halves.

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1901 U.S. 12th Census Rep. I. p. xxxvi The median point is the point of intersection of the line dividing the population equally north and south with the line dividing it equally east and west.

1913 U.S. 13th Census Rep. Population I. 52/1 What is termed by the Census Bureau the ‘median point’ of the population corresponds..to a common conception of the center of population.

1941 Amer. Math. Monthly 48 539 Both a given triangle and its parallel triangle have the same medians and median point.

median strip n. originally North American a strip of ground, usually paved or landscaped, which divides the carriageways of a street or highway.

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1939 Engin. News-Record 2 Mar. 91/1 The building of a median strip between the two 22-ft. concrete halves of the four-lane Kingston Pike out of Knoxville..falling into line with the most modern practice of four-lane highway construction.

1952 E. L. Leeming Road Engin. (ed. 3) x. 111 The centre or median strip is about 10 ft. wide, and at night the fast traffic on the lane adjoining is guided by reflector dots mounted on thin rods at a height of about 3 ft. or eye-level.

1967 Boston Sunday Herald 7 May 1/1 The need for the closing of dangerous, life-taking crossovers in the median strip.

1998 S. Orlean Orchid Thief 219 They wanted seventy thousand saw grasses to plant on the median strip of that new highway.

2006 CXpress (S. Afr.) 13 Dec. 4/3 (caption) The completed pedestrian bridge sits on the median strip of the N2, prior to being slung into place on December 10.

median valley n. Physical Geography a submarine valley which lies along the axis of a relatively slow-spreading oceanic ridge.

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1960 Deep-sea Res. 6 204 The postulated Median Valley along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge swings eastward around South Africa.

1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 98 At the precise center of most slow-spreading ridges is an especially deep valley, known as the median valley.

median vein n. [after post-classical Latin mediana vena (late 4th cent.); compare Middle French veine mediaine (1425), veine médiane (1560)] Anatomy and Zoology a vein occupying a middle or midline position; spec. a major vein of the forearm.

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a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 159 Ij braunchis..cephalica [and]..basilica maken oon veyne þat is clepid mediana.]

1592 T. Nashe Strange Newes sig. K2^v This I will proudly boast..that the vaine which I haue (be it a median vaine, or a madde man) is of my owne begetting.

1629 Bp. J. Hall Serm. Ashwednesday 10 God and his diuine Physitians doe still let blood in the median veine of the hart.

1857 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. (1860) Median vein, the vein under the flexure of the arm.

1913 Cunningham's Text-bk. Anat. (ed. 4) 1058 The superficial veins of the forearm are extremely variable; any of them may be absent, but most commonly it is the median or cephalic vein which is wanting.

1997 Jrnl. Amer. Vet. Med. Assoc. 210 1166 The lateral approach was advantageous, because it avoided the median vein, artery, and nerve.

median wasp n. [see etymological note s.v. media wasp n.] = media wasp n.

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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > the wasps > miscellaneous types

pasteboard wasp1864

killer1868

policeman fly1905

median wasp1990

media wasp1993

1990 Times 23 Aug. 21/3 The home counties have been invaded by Scandinavian ‘Median wasps’.

1995 Guardian 3 Aug. i. 4/4 Dr Archer said that the superwasp, which he called the median, was half way between a wasp and a hornet.

† median zone n. Ecology Obsolete a zone of marine life occurring at a depth of 50 to 100 fathoms (approx. 90 to 180 metres).

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a1854 E. Forbes Nat. Hist. European Seas (1859) 100 The inhabitants of the median or coralline zone around the British shores.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	median
释义	Mediann.¹adj.¹ Brit. /ˈmiːdɪən/, U.S. /ˈmidiən/ Forms: Middle English Medayne, Middle English Medien, Middle English Medoyne, Middle English– Median, 1500s– Medean. Origin: Probably partly a borrowing from French. Probably partly a borrowing from Latin, combined with an English element. Etymons: French Medien , Medain ; Latin Mēdia , -an suffix. Etymology: Probably partly < Anglo-Norman Medien (13th cent.) and Middle French Medain, and partly independently < classical Latin Mēdia ( < Mēdus Mede n. + -ia -ia suffix¹) + -an suffix. Compare ancient Greek Μηδία and Medic adj.² and n.²The form Medoyne in quot. ?a1425 at sense A. 1 is probably after Massidoyne , variant of Macedon n., which directly follows it in that passage. Some instances of the form Medean may represent an independent formation < Mede n. + -an suffix rather than a spelling variant of this word. A. n.¹ 1. = Mede n. ΘΚΠ the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Near East, Middle East, or Asia Minor > native or inhabitant of Iran, Iraq, or the Gulf > [noun] MedeeOE Persianc1375 Persec1384 Medianc1400 Lydian1545 Mesopotamian1553 Meccana1618 Ma'dan1792 Omanic1819 Iraqi1824 Yemenite1864 Sumerian1873 Akkadian1908 Yemeni1916 Marsh Arab1917 Medinese1922 Iraqian1923 Kuwaiti1928 Tehrani1939 Qatari1954 c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 3689 (MED) Hij seiȝen come Darries Perciens..Arabyens..and ek Mediens. ?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 38 Þis land of Ierusalem has bene in many diuerse naciouns handes, as Iews..men of Perse, Medoynes, Massidoynes. c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica iii. 164 In Sardanapalus dayes the hole empire of Assirians was brought to subieccion vnto the domynyon of the Medians. 1572 R. Harrison tr. L. Lavater Of Ghostes i. xii. 5 The Grecians, running and setting on the barbarous Medians. 1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) f. 39 The Græcians somewhat cowardly in y^e war against the Medeans..were by and by incensed te bataille. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. vi. xv. 122 Two citties of the Parthians, built sometimes as forts opposite against the Medians. 1701 M. Pix Double Distress i. 7 Now the haughty Medeans from Euphrates Banks And Babylon's exalted Towers, Have to Persepolis their bloody Standards rear'd. 1774 W. H. Roberts Judah Restored I. iii. 78 The Median, struck With pity and remorse, down drops his sword. 1818 H. H. Milman Samor viii. 226 When the Median's brow the massy tiar Let fall. 1901 Expositor Nov. 344 Gobryas, the general of Cyrus, a Median, appeared before Sippara. 1988 Oxf. Illustr. Encycl. III. 95/1 The Medians had access to important administrative posts. 2. The ancient Indo-Iranian (Old Iranian) language of the Medes, related to Old Persian. Cf. Medic n.² ΘΚΠ the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Indo-Iranian > Iranian > Median Median1813 Medic1880 1813 Q. Rev. Oct. 257 Languages and Dialects... Median. Zendish. Pehlvish. Persian. Kurdish. 1841 R. G. Latham Eng. Lang. i. i. 3 The Ossetic, a language spoken by an insulated tribe of Mount Caucasus, and a supposed remnant of the Ancient Median, is Indo-European. 1848 Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 21 ii. Science 241 In Median..sounds were sometimes confounded. 1848 Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 21 ii. Science 244 I..observed some Median words transcribed in one of the inscriptions, and a few other words that, though altered, appeared to be of Persian or Median origin. 1908 T. G. Tucker Introd. Nat. Hist. Lang. 189 It has, however, been argued strongly that the Avestic language is in reality Old Median. 1939 L. H. Gray Found. Lang. 32 From the New Testament..we know that in the first century a.d. Parthian, Median, Elamite, Cappadocian, Pontic, Phrygian, Pamphylian, Cretic.., and Arabic were spoken. 1950 R. G. Kent Old Persian i. i. 6/2 Among the less known Old Iranian languages the most important was Median. B. adj.¹ 1. Of or belonging to the Medes, their language, or Media. See Mede n. [In quot. 1577, Heresbach's Latin has medica ; compare Medic adj.², and Hellenistic Greek μῆλον Μηδικόν citron (lit. ‘apple, fruit, of Media’), Citrus medica.] ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Near East, Middle East, and Asia Minor > [adjective] > Asia Minor > specific lands Pontic?1556 Aeolian1567 Hyrcan1567 Median1577 Albanian1578 Parthian1581 Lycaonian1582 Lydian1584 Anatolian1590 Cilician1597 Lycian1598 Hyrcanian1600 Cappadocian1607 Mysian1613 Chaldaic1662 Pergamenian1680 Sogdian1700 Chaldean1732 Carian1818 Pontine1832 Anatolic1853 Medic1869 Sumerian1874 Mitannian1897 Mitannite1911 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 91 The Cytron, called also the Median, the Persian and the Assyrian Apple. 1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 1st Pt. sig. A7^v Thy Garments shall be made of Medean silke, Enchast with precious iuelles of mine owne. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xii. iii. 359 The Citron tree, called..by some, the Median Apple-tree. 1701 M. Pix Double Distress i. 2 When proud Astiages the Medean Throne Had mounted Young, all Eyes were fix'd on him; vast Expectation hung upon his Actions. a1711 T. Ken in W. Hawkins Short Acct. Life Thomas Ken (1713) 88 Either the Babylonian, or the Median, or the Persian Idolatries. 1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. i. 6 The independent tribes of the Median and Carduchian hills had implored his protection. 1835 J. W. Ord England II. 61 On gold and silver looms my garments fair Were woven..: Embroider'd variously with Medean silk; more white than thistle down, or morning's milk. 1839 Penny Cycl. XV. 54/2 Pharaortes..greatly extended the Median empire. 1859 A. H. Clough tr. Plutarch Lives V. 208 Alexander was brought out before the people in the Median costume, the tiara and upright peak. 1945 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 75 78/2 Median tribes (now represented by the Kurds) must have penetrated deep into Asia Minor. 1973 R. L. Fox Alexander the Great xi. 160 White horses from the Median fields. 1988 Oxf. Illustr. Encycl. III. 1/1 Cyrus' predecessors ruled Parsumash, a vassal state of the Median empire. †2. [With allusion to the law of the Medes and Persians at law n.¹ 1c.] Unchanging. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > time > change > absence of change, changelessness > [adjective] fasteOE inunvariable1535 uniform1559 changeless1575 unvariant1582 wasteless1589 unchanging1595 inherent1601 unselfchanging1605 shiftless1606 ne'er-changinga1616 waxlessa1618 immutable1621 equal1626 irreducible1633 indiminishable1641 imprevaricable1644 Median1649 undiminishable1653 assiduous1661 unvarying1690 unfluctuating1723 unrelapsing1740 stable1742 unarbitrary1793 untransferable1794 unaltering1813 constant1817 all-or-nothing1853 all-or-none1864 reducelessc1864 unaugmentable1868 invariant1874 inadaptive1886 plateaued1899 steady state1909 hardcore1951 homoeostatic1955 monochromatic1959 1649 Some Considerations Nature Oath 11 How long shall I be bound by this Oath! shall I make Median and Persian Oaths, that can never be recalled? 1782 W. Dease Observ. Cure Hydrocele Ded. p. ix Or shall an incidental phrase..be considered as the only part of it, endued with the sacred character of the Median laws? 1871 Scribner's Monthly Jan. 345 The belief..that a front parlor must be like a back one; that one side of a chimney pier must just reflect the other..—laws which are Medean and Persian laws to tradesmen and conservative, safe, respectable furnishers, but not laws with which we are concerned. 1882 H. S. Holland Logic & Life (1885) 2 A Median kingdom..whose laws..never know..change. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022). mediann.²adj.² Brit. /ˈmiːdɪən/, U.S. /ˈmidiən/ Forms: late Middle English medine, late Middle English medyne, late Middle English–1500s mediane, 1500s medyan, 1500s– median. Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin mediana, mediānus. Etymology: As noun < post-classical Latin mediana median vein (first half of the 13th cent. in a British source; also in continental sources), use as noun (short for vena mediana median vein) of feminine of classical Latin mediānus (see below); as adjective < classical Latin mediānus that is in the middle < medius middle (see medium n. and adj.) + -ānus -an suffix. Compare Middle French, French médian (adjective and noun: see below), Spanish mediano (1070; also in form miano 901), Italian mediano (a1338), Portuguese mediano (15th cent.). Compare mean adj.²A number of the senses are attested at a similar or earlier date in French (1425 as mediaine in sense A. 1; 1867 in sense A. 4); with sense B. 3a compare French valeur médiane (1843). A. n.² 1. Anatomy. A vein, nerve, etc., in the middle of an organ or part; spec. the median vein or nerve of the forearm and arm (see median nerve n., median vein n. at Compounds). Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > vascular system > blood vessel > vein > [noun] > specific vein middle veina1398 portaa1398 saphena1398 funisa1400 sciaticaa1400 guidesc1400 haemorrhoidc1400 salvatellac1400 liver veina1425 median?a1425 mesaraic?a1425 sciatic?a1425 venal artery?a1425 sciat1503 organal vein1523 axillar?1541 weeping vein1543 port-vein1586 lip-vein1598 nose vein1598 sciatic vein1598 cephalic vein1599 hollow vein1605 jugular1615 scapulary1615 subclavian vein1615 umbilical vessel1615 basilica1625 porter-vein1625 neck vein1639 garter-vein1656 matricious vein1656 sacred vein1656 subclavicular1656 subclavial1664 vertebral1718 portal vein1765 cava1809 satellite vein1809 brachial1859 innominate vein1866 precaval1866 postcava1882 precava1882 postcaval1891 Vesalian vein1891 sciatic1892 subcardinal1902 the world > life > the body > nervous system > nerve > specific nerves > [noun] > nerves in arm median?a1425 radial1723 musculo-spiral1899 ulnar1899 a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 159 Ij braunchis..cephalica [and]..basilica maken oon veyne þat is clepid mediana.] ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 156^v (MED) And þai halde þe stede of mediane, i. myddel veyne [L. locum mediane]. ?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 538 Of the whiche veynes þere ben 12 in the armes, þat is to say, two medynes [L. mediane] and two þat ben cleped cephalice, [etc.]. ?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens iv. sig. Miij Howe many and what veynes are to be let blode in the body?.. There be .xij amyd the armes that is to wyte two medyans, two cephalykes [etc.]. 1564 W. Bullein Dialogue against Fever Pestilence f. 30^v Fower vnces [of blood must be letten]..sometyme in the Median, sometyme in the Basilica. 1663 N. Culpeper Two Treat. 6 In Summer open still the Liver-vein. In Spring, that of the Heart cal'd Median. 1800 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 90 103 The median proceeding along the arm, with the large blood-vessels, and giving off two branches of communication with the ulnar nerve. 1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 9 The simultaneous examination of the medians [sc. nerves] can only be made by crossing the hands. 1990 Brain 113 1501 Studies of somatosensory evoked potentials..on stimulation of the median nerve or median-innervated fingers. †2. Something that is in an intermediate condition. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > condition of being mean or average > [noun] > mean middlingOE middlelOE meanc1450 neutralityc1475 moyen1484 temper?1523 mediety1573 medium1593 temperature1598 temperament1604 intermedial1605 median1635 intermediate1650 average1737 middle term1754 mesne1821 intermediacy1836 intermediary1865 1635 D. Person Varieties i. 16 Fumes are medians betwixt fire and earth, in respect that they are easily transmuted or changed in the one or the other. 3. Statistics. A quantity, term, or value that is the midpoint of a set of values, such that the variable has an equal probability of falling above or below it; the middle term of a discrete series arranged in order of magnitude (or, if there is no middle term, the mean of the middle two terms). ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > distribution > measures of central tendency meanc1450 median1784 mode1895 1784 R. Price Let. 29 Jan. in Corr. (1991) II. 211 It would be difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain the median of annuities payable to Widows, in order to discover the capital necessary to be raised. 1882 F. Galton in Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1881 245 The Median, in height, weight, or any other attribute, is the value which is exceeded by one-half of an infinitely large group, and which the other half falls short of. 1895 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 186 345 Thus the ‘mean’, the ‘mode’, and the ‘median’ have all distinct characters. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 287/1 The median (that point which has as many of the given observations above as below it). 1935 J. H. Cover Retail Price Behavior 86 Though it appears that the median may be more satisfactory for a retail price index, the mean is more logical for a cost-of-living index. 1954 M. Beresford Lost Villages Eng. ix. 288 In the receipts of 1377 we have only the constables' names to add flesh and blood to the averages, modal ranges and medians of statistical calculations. 1991 S. J. Gould Bully for Brontosaurus xxxii. 473 Means are higher than medians in such cases because one millionaire may outweigh hundreds of poor people in setting a mean, but can balance only one mendicant in calculating a median. 4. Geometry. Each of three lines drawn from the vertices of a triangle to the midpoints of the opposite sides. Also (in extended use): a line between two opposite sides of a quadrilateral. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun] > other medial line1570 radius1590 lineature1630 foot line1658 rectification1685 axis1734 slant side1824 radiant1842 transverse1867 median1883 bilinear1923 the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun] > set or system of > line in radius1774 ray1856 median1883 symmedian, or symmedian line1885 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 15/1 If a, b, c be the three sides of a triangle, and α, β, γ the three medians, i.e., the lines drawn from the angles to the middle points of the opposite sides. 1888 H. S. Hall & F. H. Stevens Text-bk. Euclid's Elem. (1894) 105 The medians of a triangle are concurrent. 1941 Amer. Math. Monthly 48 539 Both a given triangle and its parallel triangle have the same medians and median point. 1989 VNR Conc. Encycl. Math. (ed. 2) vii. 158 The three medians of a triangle intersect in a single point, the centre of gravity of the triangle. 5. U.S. = median strip n. at Compounds. ΘΚΠ society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > for wheeled vehicles > dual carriageway > central reservation reservation1887 reserve1923 median1944 1944 Policy on Grade Separations for Intersecting Highways (Amer. Assoc. State Highway Officials) 36 It is practicable to span four lanes and a narrow median without a central pier. 1976 N.Y. Times 25 Sept. 18 There is much..benefit to be gained by refashioning the old highway into a promenade with a grass median bracketed by bicycle lanes. 1985 New Yorker 18 Nov. 49/1 I take a corner too fast, bump into a curb, then bounce up on the median. 1992 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. 27 Dec. a5/5 A state Highway Department fence in the median prevented him from crossing over. B. adj.² 1. Situated in a middle or intermediate position; middle; intermediate; †neutral (obsolete). ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > middle > [adjective] middleeOE midmosteOE mid1273 mean1340 middlemosta1400 mediate?1440 moyen1481 median1592 intermedial1599 intermediate1648 mede1706 intermediary1788 the world > space > relative position > central condition or position > [adjective] > situated in the centre or middle mideOE middleeOE mean1340 midwarda1400 moyen1481 centrica1593 midway1608 centricala1631 umbilical1742 middling1747 median1771 focal1825 1592 R. Dallington tr. F. Colonna Hypnerotomachia 18 Then in the voide over the Isopleures make foure Mediane prickes, drawing lines from one to another and they will make the Rhombus. 1645 R. Overton Sacred Decretall 11 Not knowing which way the Dice would fall, we kept ourselves in a direct Median Posture, that wee might be sure notwithstanding, which way soever it went. 1656 T. Blount Glossographia Median, the middle, half, mean; not deserving praise or dispraise. 1771 E. Ledwich Antiquitates Sarisburienses 13 The Gates and the median rampart. 1877 J. Sully Pessimism 244 In the lower and median latitudes of our emotional life. 1983 W. Byron tr. A. Le Vot F. Scott Fitzgerald (1984) iv. xi. 163 Dancing is a median condition between the soul's sadness and the body's demands. 2. a. Anatomy, Zoology, and Botany. In the middle of a body, part, or organ; central, between others; spec. designating structures in the middle of the anterior aspect of the human forearm. Later also: situated in or directed towards the median plane of a body, organ, or limb. ΚΠ 1592 T. Nashe Strange Newes sig. K2^v This I will proudly boast..that the vaine which I haue (be it a median vaine, or a madde man) is of my owne begetting. 1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 901 It lyeth under the foresaide humerall veyne where the Median or Common veyne ariseth thereout. 1831 R. Knox tr. H. Cloquet Syst. Human Anat. (ed. 2) 85 The last-mentioned suture, designated by the name of the Median or Frontal,..is generally indistinct. 1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. I. 706/1 The median parts of the lobes of the mantle [in Conchifera] are extremely thin. 1840 E. Blyth et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom 197 The Great Tit..with a black median list down the belly. 1890 Cent. Dict. Shackle-vein, a vein of the horse, apparently the median antebrachial, from which blood used to be let. 1894 R. B. Sharpe Hand-bk. Birds Great Brit. I. 35 The lesser and median wing-coverts white. 1900 B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms 153/2 Median Wall, in Archegoniates, the wall in a plane at right angles to the basal wall dividing the proëmbryo into lateral halves. 1965 K. Esau Plant Anat. (ed. 2) xvi. 434 In some large grasses the median part of the blade is thickened into a midrib. 1986 A. S. Romer & T. S. Parsons Vertebr. Body (ed. 6) xi. 362 Embryologically, the lungs first appear in the form of a ventral outpocketing of the floor of the throat, median in position. b. Surgery. Designating a surgical incision or procedure made through the midline of the body or over or through the midline of a tumour, organ, etc. See also median lithotomy n. at Compounds. ΚΠ 1891 Lancet 18 Apr. 907/1 He makes a median incision over the tumour. 1968 Brit. Jrnl. Plastic Surg. 21 415 In Ragnell's operation the bone chips are inserted through a median columellar incision. 1985 M. F. Myles Textbk. Midwives (ed. 10) xxxiii. 615 The median incision does not provide as much space as the medio-lateral incision. 1991 Singapore Med. Jrnl. 32 119 An analysis of upper thoracic sympathectomy for palmar hyperhydrosis performed..via several surgical approaches suggests that the posterior median approach is preferable. 2000 Cardiovascular Surg. 8 31 The carotid artery was first exposed, followed by median sternotomy, systemic heparinization, cannulation and cardiopulmonary bypass. 3. Statistics. a. Designating a value, quantity, etc., that is a median (sense A. 3). ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [adjective] > relating to distribution > of measures of central tendency median1882 modal1897 multimodal1899 bimodal1903 polymodal1910 unimodal1923 trimodal1927 1882 F. Galton in Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1881 248 Men of 22 years, having a median height of 67.6 inches, would have an interquartile range of 4.4 inches. 1885 F. Galton in Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. Feb. 276 The value which 50 per cent. exceeded, and 50 per cent. fell short of, is the Median Value. 1894 Times 19 Dec. 12/2 If graphically arranged, they would present a ‘curve of error’, the ‘median ordinate’ of which (to use a phrase familiar to the new school of statisticians) would yield a sentence far more satisfactory and just than many that are every week awarded. 1900 Boston Transcript Mar. The average age of the population of the United States..is twenty-five years; the median age is twenty-one years. The latter means the point at which there are as many people above as below. 1955 G. Gorer Exploring Eng. Char. xiv. 242 The very poor and the most prosperous have fewer non-worshippers than those in the median income ranges. 1973 Daily Tel. 30 Jan. 7/1 The Statistical Office report shows the median wage for Northamptonshire as £1,260. 1992 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 19 Feb. 44/1 Median house prices have risen in all but one of the areas. b. More generally: average. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > condition of being mean or average > [adjective] evenc1300 mean1340 middlingc1485 intermediate1665 half-way1694 middle1699 medium1764 average1770 median1912 middle-range1924 1912 J. Stephens Charwoman's Daughter 136 Her terms were accepted as median exactitudes. 1928 Y. Henderson & M. R. Davie Incomes & Living Costs University 31 The median amount earned by extra teaching. Compounds median artery n. Anatomy and Zoology an artery occupying a middle or midline position; spec. a branch of the anterior interosseous artery that accompanies the median nerve. ΚΠ 1839–47 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. III. 656/2 The artery thus formed is called the anterior median artery of the spinal cord. 1913 Cunningham's Text-bk. Anat. (ed. 4) 1031 The median, the radial, and the ulnar arteries are of later formation. 2000 Jrnl. Anat. 196 193 The common palmar digital artery III [in the Bactrian camel] was the continuation of the median artery, which divided into medial and lateral branches. median eminence n. Anatomy a slightly raised area of the tuber cinereum of the hypothalamus, at the base of the infundibulum. ΚΠ 1947 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 232 395 They suggested that the supraoptico-hypophysial tract regulates the secretion of the anti-diuretic hormone by the neural division of the hypophysis, the term neural division being used so as to include the median eminence and infundibular stem, as well as the infundibular process. 1965 Amer. Jrnl. Anat. 117 251 (title) Electron microscopic observations of neurosecretory granules, nerve and glial fibers, and blood vessels in the median eminence of the rabbit. 2000 Jrnl. Compar. Neurol. 419 244 Double-labeling studies showed colocalization of the two receptors in neurons of the lateral septum, but not in the median eminence or in the arcuate nucleus. median lethal dose n. the dose of a drug or of ionizing radiation that kills 50 per cent of test subjects; symbol LD₅₀. ΚΠ 1927 J. W. Trevan in Proc. Royal Soc. B. 101 483 Toxicity should be stated primarily in terms of the ‘median lethal dose’, that is the dose which kills 50 per cent. of a large group of animals. 1947 Radiology 49 320/2 The total amount of energy absorbed as beta rays to produce the same effect is given by the product of the median lethal dose in rep times the surface area of the animal..divided by the absorption coefficient of the particular beta emission used. 1994 Vet. & Human Toxicol. 36 295 Twenty-four hour ip median lethal doses (LD₅₀) of freeze-dried aqueous extracts..were determined. median line n. (a) Anatomy, Zoology, and Botany. [compare French ligne médiane (1823 in anatomy)] , any line in the median plane, esp. the midline; (b) gen. [compare classical Latin mediāna līnea (geom.), French ligne medienne line situated in the middle (1607), ligne médiane (1873 in geom.)] , a line exactly through the middle of something; a line exactly between two things, esp. joining points equidistant from each. ΚΠ 1822 N. Amer. Rev. July 148 The stomach is disposed without any regard to the median line, and one half of it bears no resemblance to the other. 1875 J. Croll Climate & Time xiv. 229 During a glacial period in the northern hemisphere the median line between the trades would be shifted..south of the equator. 1960 D. C. Braungart & R. Buddeke Introd. Animal Biol. (ed. 5) xviii. 260 On the dorsal median line of the head slightly in front of the eyes is located a light-colored area known as the brow spot. 1997 Daily Tel. 16 Apr. 25/3 Transitional arrangements would need to be negotiated with countries bordering the North Sea and the English Channel, but this would be on the basis of asserting our rights out to 200 miles or the median line, whichever is closer. † median lithotomy n. Surgery Obsolete lithotomy performed using an incision through the perineal raphe (opposed to lateral lithotomy). ΚΠ 1854 G. Allarton Lithotomy Simplified 42 The spot selected for the incision in the median operation.] 1863 G. Allarton (title) A treatise on modern median lithotomy. 1889 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon at Lithotomy Marian L., the older form of median lithotomy. median nerve n. [compare post-classical Latin medianum nervum (late 4th cent.), French nerf médian (1765)] Anatomy and Zoology a nerve occupying a middle or midline position; spec. a main nerve of the forearm that arises from the medial and lateral cords of the brachial plexus. ΚΠ 1807 R. Morris & J. Kendrick Edinb. Med. & Physical Dict. II Median nerve, the second branch of the brachial plexus. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 183/2 The fact that the nerve tube is dorsal..suggests that the Craniates' ancestor had a dorsal median nerve. 1990 New Age Oct. 34/2 The debilitating hand and wrist disorder known as carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)—a disease of the median nerve in the wrist that is increasingly identified with keyboard use. median plane n. [compare French plan médian (1823)] Anatomy, Zoology, and Botany the plane that divides a body, organ, etc., into (roughly) symmetrical halves; the sagittal plane. ΚΠ 1830 R. Knox tr. P. A. Béclard Elements Gen. Anat. 30 Their organs of sensation and motion are disposed in pairs on the two sides of an axis, or median plane. 1884 F. O. Bower & D. H. Scott tr. H. A. de Bary Compar. Anat. Phanerogams & Ferns 160 The median plane of the lens-shaped double cavity. 1945 Amer. Heart Jrnl. 29 4 Abduction is movement away from the median plane of the body. 1980 Gray's Anat. (ed. 36) vi. 633/1 The structures which pass through the upper opening of the thorax fall naturally into two groups, viz.: those in or near the median plane and those placed more laterally. median point n. (a) Geometry the point of intersection of the medians of a triangle (the centroid); (b) the point of intersection of a north–south and an east–west line, each dividing a population into equal halves. ΚΠ 1901 U.S. 12th Census Rep. I. p. xxxvi The median point is the point of intersection of the line dividing the population equally north and south with the line dividing it equally east and west. 1913 U.S. 13th Census Rep. Population I. 52/1 What is termed by the Census Bureau the ‘median point’ of the population corresponds..to a common conception of the center of population. 1941 Amer. Math. Monthly 48 539 Both a given triangle and its parallel triangle have the same medians and median point. median strip n. originally North American a strip of ground, usually paved or landscaped, which divides the carriageways of a street or highway. ΚΠ 1939 Engin. News-Record 2 Mar. 91/1 The building of a median strip between the two 22-ft. concrete halves of the four-lane Kingston Pike out of Knoxville..falling into line with the most modern practice of four-lane highway construction. 1952 E. L. Leeming Road Engin. (ed. 3) x. 111 The centre or median strip is about 10 ft. wide, and at night the fast traffic on the lane adjoining is guided by reflector dots mounted on thin rods at a height of about 3 ft. or eye-level. 1967 Boston Sunday Herald 7 May 1/1 The need for the closing of dangerous, life-taking crossovers in the median strip. 1998 S. Orlean Orchid Thief 219 They wanted seventy thousand saw grasses to plant on the median strip of that new highway. 2006 CXpress (S. Afr.) 13 Dec. 4/3 (caption) The completed pedestrian bridge sits on the median strip of the N2, prior to being slung into place on December 10. median valley n. Physical Geography a submarine valley which lies along the axis of a relatively slow-spreading oceanic ridge. ΚΠ 1960 Deep-sea Res. 6 204 The postulated Median Valley along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge swings eastward around South Africa. 1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 98 At the precise center of most slow-spreading ridges is an especially deep valley, known as the median valley. median vein n. [after post-classical Latin mediana vena (late 4th cent.); compare Middle French veine mediaine (1425), veine médiane (1560)] Anatomy and Zoology a vein occupying a middle or midline position; spec. a major vein of the forearm. ΚΠ a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 159 Ij braunchis..cephalica [and]..basilica maken oon veyne þat is clepid mediana.] 1592 T. Nashe Strange Newes sig. K2^v This I will proudly boast..that the vaine which I haue (be it a median vaine, or a madde man) is of my owne begetting. 1629 Bp. J. Hall Serm. Ashwednesday 10 God and his diuine Physitians doe still let blood in the median veine of the hart. 1857 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. (1860) Median vein, the vein under the flexure of the arm. 1913 Cunningham's Text-bk. Anat. (ed. 4) 1058 The superficial veins of the forearm are extremely variable; any of them may be absent, but most commonly it is the median or cephalic vein which is wanting. 1997 Jrnl. Amer. Vet. Med. Assoc. 210 1166 The lateral approach was advantageous, because it avoided the median vein, artery, and nerve. median wasp n. [see etymological note s.v. media wasp n.] = media wasp n. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > the wasps > miscellaneous types pasteboard wasp1864 killer1868 policeman fly1905 median wasp1990 media wasp1993 1990 Times 23 Aug. 21/3 The home counties have been invaded by Scandinavian ‘Median wasps’. 1995 Guardian 3 Aug. i. 4/4 Dr Archer said that the superwasp, which he called the median, was half way between a wasp and a hornet. † median zone n. Ecology Obsolete a zone of marine life occurring at a depth of 50 to 100 fathoms (approx. 90 to 180 metres). ΚΠ a1854 E. Forbes Nat. Hist. European Seas (1859) 100 The inhabitants of the median or coralline zone around the British shores. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.¹adj.¹c1400n.²adj.²?a1425
随便看	pre-civilized pre-classical pre-clear pre-clearance pre-close pre-clovis pre-coat pre-code pre-coetanean pre-coexistent pre-coital pre-coitally pre-coition pre-coitional pre-collection pre-college pre-colonial pre-columbian pre-combustible pre-combustion pre-come pre-commercial pre-commit pre-commitment pre-commitments

Mediann.1adj.1

mediann.2adj.2

Compounds

Mediann.¹adj.¹

mediann.²adj.²