medial

adjective

me·​di·​al ˈmē-dē-əl How to pronounce medial (audio)
1
2
a
: being or occurring in the middle
b
: extending toward the middle
especially : lying or extending toward the median axis of the body
3
: situated between the extremes of initial and final in a word or morpheme
medial noun
medially adverb

Example Sentences

four is the medial number between one and seven
Recent Examples on the Web Missouri, where medial marijuana has been legal since 2018, also has nearly three times as many licensed cultivation sites, and allows anyone 21 or older to grow at home, while Illinois only allows medical cannabis patients to grow their own weed. Robert Mccoppin, Chicago Tribune, 20 Mar. 2023 To perform, stand on a balance board or wobble board with one fulcrum of movement (medial to lateral or anterior to posterior). Dr. Rachel Tavel, Pt, Dpt, Men's Health, 16 Feb. 2023 Last year, a record 19 people died in San Diego County jail custody, and a 20th person who had been long hospitalized died shortly after he was released for medial reasons. San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2023 The Ohio Senate is considering a bill that would expand medial marijuana for any conditions that physicians, at their discretion and medical opinion, determine are debilitating to a patient. cleveland, 27 Jan. 2023 Researchers have discovered that music is a uniquely powerful trigger for memory retrieval, because of the way it’s processed in a region of the brain called the medial prefrontal cortex. Emma Dibdin, Town & Country, 18 Nov. 2022 The medial temporal lobe subsystem: thinking about things that happen, or episodic processes. Tim Vernimmen, Discover Magazine, 5 Sep. 2022 There are two heads to the muscle, the lateral head which sits on the outside of the lower leg and the medial head that sits on the inside of the leg. David Otey, Men's Health, 14 Dec. 2022 This is done when the treating physician is sure that the pain is coming from these particular nerves, called the lumbar medial branch nerves. Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 21 Nov. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'medial.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin medialis, from Latin medius

First Known Use

1570, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of medial was in 1570

Dictionary Entries Near medial

Cite this Entry

“Medial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medial. Accessed 26 Mar. 2023.

Kids Definition

medial

adjective
me·​di·​al ˈmēd-ē-əl How to pronounce medial (audio)
medially adverb

Medical Definition

medial

adjective
me·​di·​al ˈmēd-ē-əl How to pronounce medial (audio)
1
: lying or extending in the middle
especially, of a body part : lying or extending toward the median axis of the body
the medial surface of the tibia
2
: of or relating to the media of a blood vessel
necrosis and lipid deposition with medial involvement
medially adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on medial

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