What is a Medium?

According to the online American Heritage Dictionary, 4th edition (Houghton Mifflin, 2000), "me-di-um" is a noun with two forms in the plural -- either "me-di-a" or "me-di-ums." [Note how many opportunities and difficulties the following definitions offer:]

• 1. Something, such as an intermediate course of action, that occupies a position or represents a condition midway between extremes.
• 2. An intervening substance through which something else is transmitted or carried on.
• 3. An agency by which something is accomplished, conveyed, or transferred: The train was the usual medium of transportation in those days.
• 4. pl. media Usage Problem.
• a. A means of mass communication, such as newpapers, magazines, radio, or television.
• b. media (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The group of journalists and others who constitute the communications industry and profession.
• 5. pl. media Computer Science. An object or device, such as a disk, on which data is stored.
• 6. pl. mediums A person thought to have the power to communicate with the spirits of the dead or with agents of another world or dimension. Also called psychic.
• 7. pl. media
• a. A surrounding environment in which something functions and thrives.
• b. The substance in which a specific organism lives and thrives.
• c. A culture medium.
• 8.
• a. A specific kind of artistic technique or means of expression as determined by the materials used or the creative methods involved: the medium of lithography.
• b. The materials used in a specific artistic technique: oils as a medium.
• 9. A solvent with which paint is thinned to the proper consistency.
• 10. Chemistry. A filtering substance, such as filter paper.
• 11. A size of paper, usually 18 x 23 inches or 17 1/2 x 22 inches.

Last updated: 20 July 2002