median

noun me·di·an \ ˈmē-dē-ən \

Updated on: 25 Apr 2018

Definition of median

1 : a medial (see medial 2b) part (such as a vein or nerve)

2 a : a value in an ordered set of values below and above which there is an equal number of values or which is the arithmetic mean of the two middle values if there is no one middle number

b : a vertical line that divides the histogram of a frequency distribution into two parts of equal area

c : a value of a random variable for which all greater values make the cumulative distribution function greater than one half and all lesser values make it less than one half

3 a : a line from a vertex (see vertex 2) of a triangle to the midpoint of the opposite side

b : a line joining the midpoints of the nonparallel sides of a trapezoid (see trapezoid 1a)

4 : median strip

See median defined for English-language learners

See median defined for kids

Recent Examples of median from the Web

It’s hard to find a community inside Route 128 where median, or midpoint, home prices didn’t climb at least 30 percent since 2012.

— jon gorey, BostonGlobe.com, "Top spots to live in Greater Boston in 2018," 19 Apr. 2018
In the video released April 15, officers surround Ohene, who is standing on a street median.

— beatrice dupuy, Teen Vogue, "A Black Harvard Student Was Punched by Police Trying to Subdue Him," 17 Apr. 2018
In 2016 the median household income there was $21,805, far below the city’s median of $39,770, and beneath the national poverty line, which is $26,104.

— julia terruso, Philly.com, "How a North Philly 8-year-old girl, traumatized by fire, found help," 13 Apr. 2018
With its wide green medians, The Paseo may be seen as a more appropriate choice than Prospect, activists said.

— bill turque, kansascity, "KC black leaders to start petition drive to rename The Paseo for Martin Luther King Jr. | The Kansas City Star," 30 Mar. 2018
These are the companies that have filed, including those with the median, lowest and highest CEO pay ratios.

— alicia ritcey, Bloomberg.com, "How Your Pay Stacks Up to Your CEO’s," 23 Mar. 2018
Follow the movement in the average projection, as well as the median, to gauge the degree of shifting intent.

— nick timiraos, WSJ, "Fed Set to Raise Rates, Issue New Economic Projections," 21 Mar. 2018
The plan involves separating opposing lanes of traffic with a median, eliminating left turns at major intersections and creating boulevard-style turnaround lanes — measures MDOT says would reduce traffic bottlenecks.

— darrell clem, Detroit Free Press, "Weekend trip to IKEA in Canton won't get any easier," 15 Mar. 2018
After hitting the median, the bus plunged into the ravine, trapping people inside the mangled vehicle until rescuers could rappel down the ravine to extricate them, said Mack.

— steve helling, PEOPLE.com, "One Dead, Many Injured When Bus Carrying High School Students Plunges into 50-Foot Alabama Ravine," 13 Mar. 2018

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

Did You Know?

People often use the word average without realizing that there are two common forms of average. Suppose you want to find the average net worth of a group of people—that is, the average value of everything they possess. To find one type of average, called the mean, you'd simply add up the total value of money and property of everyone in the group and divide it by the number of people. To find the other type, called the median, you'd identify the net worth of the person who is richer than half the people and poorer than the other half. So if Warren Buffett drove through a tiny village in India, the mean net worth of those in the village would suddenly rise to perhaps a billion dollars, but their median net worth would remain close to zero. Which figure would be more meaningful?

Origin and Etymology of median

Middle English mediane, from Late Latin mediana (vena) median (vein), from feminine of Latin medianus in the middle, central, from medius middle — more at mid

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Synonym Discussion of median

average, mean, median, norm mean something that represents a middle point. average is the quotient obtained by dividing the sum total of a set of figures by the number of figures.

- scored an average of 85 on tests

mean may be the simple average or it may represent value midway between two extremes.

- a high of 70° and a low of 50° give a mean of 60°

median applies to the value that represents the point at which there are as many instances above as there are below.

- average of a group of persons earning 3, 4, 5, 8, and 10 dollars an hour is 6 dollars, whereas the median is 5 dollars

norm means the average of performance of a significantly large group, class, or grade.

- scores about the norm for fifth grade arithmetic

Other Anatomy Terms

bilateral symmetry, carotid, cartilage, dorsal, entrails, prehensile, renal, solar plexus, supine, thoracic, ventral

median

adjective

Definition of median

1 : being in the middle or in an intermediate position : medial

2 : lying in the plane dividing a bilateral animal into right and left halves

3 : relating to or constituting a statistical median

4 : produced without occlusion along the lengthwise middle line of the tongue

—

medianly

adverb

See median defined for English-language learners

Examples of median in a Sentence

What is the median price of homes in this area?
the median price of a home in the area

Recent Examples of median from the Web

There are 40 loft apartments with rents between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area's median income of $41,557 for Wayne County.

— brandon patterson, Detroit Free Press, "Historic Lincoln Park theater goes from XXX films to affordable housing," 9 Apr. 2018
That price range gets adjusted through the years, based on the county's median family income.

— skyler swisher, Sun-Sentinel.com, "County trying to spur development of affordable housing as rents, prices rise," 6 Apr. 2018
The Alazan Lofts development will contain a mixture of market-rate rentals and affordable housing units for tenants earning between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income, plans show.

— peggy o’hare, San Antonio Express-News, "SAHA, developers seek to ramp up West Side housing," 5 Apr. 2018
Blacks in the city of Memphis suffer disproportionately, with a median household income of about $31,000 — barely more than half that of whites, according to census data.

— jenny jarvie, latimes.com, "50 years after King's death, struggles remain for African Americans in Memphis," 4 Apr. 2018
The developments proposed would be almost entirely restricted to tenants making 60 percent of the area's median income or less, roughly $42,420, and most would be age-restricted, for elderly renters.

— ely portillo, charlotteobserver, "Here's where developers are planning almost 1,000 affordable apartments in Charlotte | Charlotte Observer," 3 Apr. 2018
As of the most recent census data, Northern Liberties (and a section of Fishtown) had the third-highest median income in the city, $78,775 per household, behind only Southwest Center City ($79,821) and Chestnut Hill ($80,127).

— julia terruso, Philly.com, "As wealth rises in Northern Liberties, businesses look for a lift," 30 Mar. 2018
Although the rent in National City is the lowest in the county, the city’s median household income is also low — at about $42,000.

— david hernandez, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Initiative proposes rent control in National City," 29 Mar. 2018
But a recent report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a non-partisan think-tank, gives a cheerier rise of 51% for median household income between 1979 and 2014.

— The Economist, "The average American is much better off now than four decades ago," 28 Mar. 2018

Origin and Etymology of median

Latin medianus — see ¹median

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1592

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

median Synonyms

MEDIAN Defined for English Language Learners

median

noun

Definition of median for English Language Learners

mathematics : the middle value in a series of values arranged from smallest to largest

median

adjective

Definition of median for English Language Learners

: in the middle; especially mathematics : having a value that is in the middle of a series of values arranged from smallest to largest

MEDIAN Defined for Kids

median

noun me·di·an \ ˈmē-dē-ən \

Definition of median for Students

: a value in a series arranged from smallest to largest below and above which there are an equal number of values or which is the average of the two middle values if there is no one middle value

The median of the set 1, 3, 7, 12, 19 is 7.

Medical Dictionary

median

noun me·di·an \ ˈmēd-ē-ən \

medical Definition of median

1 : a medial part (as a vein or nerve)

2 a : a value in an ordered set of values below and above which there is an equal number of values or which is the arithmetic mean of the two middle values if there is no one middle number

b : a vertical line that divides the histogram of a frequency distribution into two parts of equal area