mid-rangen.adj.
/ˌmɪdˈreɪn(d)ʒ/, U.S. /ˈmɪdˌreɪndʒ/ A. n.
1. A central or halfway point; an approximate midpoint.
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1853 Sci. Amer. 1 Jan. 126 A pair of equalizing cylinders,..placed at a greater or less distance (one on each side of the mid-range of the toggle).
1923 Ecology 4 342 Of the 241 animals taken..55 percent are recorded from twice as far south as they are north of Woods Hole,..30 per cent are north ranging by the same criterion, and..11 per cent are approximately at mid-range.
1948 Sociometry 11 30 Why should the compounding in complexity seem greatest in midrange and not go on increasing in size?
1973 N.Y. Times 16 Oct. 63/1 The company was well ahead of the mid-range of its goal of increasing earnings by an average of 6 to 10 per cent annually.
1989 Psychiatric Devel. 7 239 Somatoform disorders that have fewer symptoms..would be placed at mid range (disorders of milder severity).
2. A band or range intermediate between two extremes of distance, quantity, power, speed, etc.
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1876 Galaxy 22 265/2 The Yonkers Rifle Association..now holds Morsemere Range, with a handsome list of members, having one of the finest teams of ‘midrange’ marksmen in the country.
1918 in Jrnl. Amer. Mil. Hist. Inst. (1939) 3 113 The dispersion of the two guns is about the same at short and mid-ranges.
1974 V. B. Mountcastle et al. Med. Physiol. (ed. 13) I. x. 308/2 It is 20 to 15% of the base comparison over the midrange of stimulus intensities.
1997 Car Mar. 167/3 The eight-valve motor is peppy in the mid-ranges and reasonably happy high up, and a nicely snicky gearbox keeps up the pace.
3. Statistics. The arithmetic mean of the largest and the smallest values in a sample or population; the region about this value.
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the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > [noun] > mean
meanc1450
medium1573
mediety1598
mediocrity1726
arithmetical mean1798
arithmetic mean1866
root-mean-square1895
mid-range1902
1902 Biometrika 2 17 The e's were calculated and the following series of parabolas obtained, x being measured from the mid-range.
1951 W. J. Dixon & F. J. Massey Introd. Statistical Anal. xvi. 238 It is probably not advisable to use the midrange for samples of more than five observations since its efficiency drops below that of the median beyond this point.
1970 Jrnl. Industr. Econ. 18 222 Our data show that the basic oxygen process was adopted at a rate which lies in the mid-range of our sample.
1989 Lit. & Ling. Computing 4 277/1 Proust eschews a mid-range modal length (11–20 words), but produces the highest chi square..with a 3.98 for strings of 61 words or over.
4.
a. The middle part of the range of audible frequencies.
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the world > matter > physics > science of sound > vibration > [noun] > middle frequency
mid-range1955
the world > matter > physics > science of sound > vibration > [adjective] > in middle range
mid-range1955
1955 E. T. Canby Home Mus. Syst. (ed. 2) x. 160 The newest wrinkles in the speaker department are the tiny super tweeter, for crispness in extremely high tones, and the large mid-range tweeter, to take over the middle ‘intelligence’ highs.
1960 C. Brown Introd. Hi-Fi iv. 89 A third speaker to handle the mid-range can be introduced if required.
1975 Gramophone Jan. 1425/1 The tweeter maintains the smooth and wide dispersion of energy as it takes over from the bass and mid-range unit.
1982 Giant Bk. Electronics Projects iii. 130 With front panel control..set at midrange, adjust the horizontal slug.
1989 H. Carruth Tell me again how White Heron Rises 39 The sweet somberness of contralto, viola, and the mid-range of piano.
b. A loudspeaker designed to reproduce mid-range signals with fidelity while being relatively unresponsive to those of low or high frequency (bass and treble).
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the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > audibility > sound magnification or reproduction > [noun] > loud speaker
loudspeaker1884
speaker1926
condenser loudspeaker1929
monitor1931
tweeter1934
woofer1935
squawk box1945
ionophone1952
monitor speaker1954
mid-range1955
squawker1959
subwoofer1975
1955 E. T. Canby Home Mus. Syst. (ed. 2) x. 160 A cheap and effective alternative is an ordinary medium-sized cone speaker used as a mid-range.
1975 Hi-Fi Answers Feb. 68/1 It was specifically developed as a good mid-range for the new Leak 2000 series of speakers.
1977 Gramophone Apr. 1630/1 In fact, electronic crossover..is employed, with a 40-watt amplifier feeding the 400mm..woofer and a 20-watt amplifier feeding the 50mm..dome mid-range and 25mm..tweeter.
B. adj. (usually attributive).
1. Existing in, functioning at, or dealing with the middle part of a range of sizes or distances.
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1902 Biometrika 1 311 Material taken in the middle of the season gave modes on the mid-range numbers with variates over the entire range.
1936 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 44 125 Chapter v is devoted to the mid-range leading difference parameters and their relation to interpolation.
1991 Fly Fisherman Sept. 64/1 Their long-belly ‘trout tapers’ are designed to provide accurate short- to mid-range casting.
1998 Today's Golfer May 81/1 I use a 7-wood for many of my mid-range fairway shots.
2. spec. Of a product: in the middle of the range with regard to size, quality, or price.
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1977 Computer Design Aug. 87/1 Being a mid-range machine, i.e., neither the lowest in cost nor the highest in performance, its design is a rich source of tradeoff examples.
1989 DEC Professional Sept. 88/2 Digital is shipping midrange RISC machines and calling them ULTRIX.
1992 N.Y. Times 12 July iii. 13/3 While it was originally an expensive car, it is now mid-range.
1998 Paper Focus May 13/3 UK Paper has published a 16 page Product Guide for its Nimrod portfolio of mid-range coated papers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.adj.1853