median

median — adjective

1. describing the number found at the middle position of a set of numbers after the

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

describing the number found at the middle position of a set of numbers after they have been arranged from smallest to largest — often used to show what is typical or average without being distorted by unusually high or low values

Example

The median age in Naoko's neighbourhood is thirty-four, meaning half the residents are younger than that and half are older.

collocation: median age, median income, median price

The median score was higher than the average because three low grades skewed it.

Common collocations
  • median age
  • median income
  • median price
  • median score
  • median value
Synonyms
  • middle

    more general; does not specifically imply a statistical ordering

  • central

    suggests a position near the centre but not necessarily the exact midpoint of a sorted list

  • average

    informally used like median but technically refers to the mean in statistics

Antonyms
  • extreme

    at one end of the ordered set rather than the middle

Grammar Patterns

median + noun (median age, median income, median score)

Usage Note

Often used in contrast with 'mean' (the mathematical average) when discussing data — the median is less affected by extreme values.

Common Mistakes

The median of 2, 4, and 9 is 5.
The mean of 2, 4, and 9 is 5; the median is 4.
The median is the middle value in an ordered list, not the sum divided by the count.

2. located on or near the imaginary line running down the middle of the human torso

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

located on or near the imaginary line running down the middle of the human torso that splits it into left and right halves — used in medical descriptions of where a nerve, organ, or cut is found

Example

The median nerve runs through the forearm and controls movement in the thumb and fingers.

collocation: median nerve

The median plane divides the human body into left and right halves.

collocation: median plane

Common collocations
  • median nerve
  • median plane
  • median line
  • median incision
Synonyms
  • central

    more general and less technical

  • medial

    even more precise anatomical term for 'closer to the midline'

Antonyms
  • lateral

    toward the sides of the body rather than the midline

Grammar Patterns

median + noun (median nerve, median plane, median line)

Usage Note

Primarily used in medical and biological contexts. The opposite of 'median' in anatomy is 'lateral' (toward the sides of the body).

3. situated somewhere between the two ends of a range — not at the highest or lowes

3.adjectiveB2
Definition

situated somewhere between the two ends of a range — not at the highest or lowest level, and not at one extreme or the other

Example

Joaquín's house is at the median point between the two schools his children attend.

collocation: median point

The company divided its products into low-end, median, and premium price categories.

Common collocations
  • median point
  • median range
  • median category
Synonyms
  • middle

    more common and interchangeable in most non-technical contexts

  • intermediate

    emphasises being between two stages or levels

  • mid-level

    often used for ranks, quality, or skill categories

Antonyms
  • extreme

    at one of the far ends of the range

  • marginal

    at the very edge or bottom of the range

Grammar Patterns

median + noun (median point, median category, median range)

median — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

In statistics, these four terms describe different ways to identify a "typical" value in a data set. The median is the middle number when the values are arranged in order — it resists distortion from extreme outliers. The mean (the arithmetic average) is calculated by adding all values and dividing by the count; it is easily pulled upward or downward by unusually high or low numbers. Average is the everyday term that can informally refer to any measure of central tendency, but in technical writing it usually means the mean. The mode is simply the most frequently occurring value and is useful for categorical data. For example, in the set {2, 3, 3, 5, 100}, the median is 3, the mean is roughly 22.6, and the mode is 3 — showing how the mean gives a very different picture when an outlier is present.

median ↗mean ↗average ↗mode ↗

Common collocations

Prepositions

  • of (the median of the data set)

Etymology

LatinLate LatinEnglish

The word 'median' comes from Latin 'mediānus', meaning 'middle' or 'central', which itself comes from 'medius' ('that is in the middle'). It entered English through Late Latin in the 1500s, first used in general spatial senses. The anatomical meaning — relating to the midline of the body — appeared in the 1600s. The statistical sense emerged in the late 1800s as mathematics developed tools for summarising data sets.