median

noun me·di·an \ ˈmē-dē-ən \

Updated on: 9 May 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

Property for the park could come from realigning parts of the highway between Manzano Drive, near Cannon Road, south to La Costa Avenue, where a wide median separates the north- and southbound lanes.

— phil diehl, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Carlsbad residents pushing for Ponto Beach park," 6 May 2018
By the time emergency crews arrived at scene, the man had collapsed dead by the inner median.

— katy bergen, kansascity, "Lee's Summit Police investigate stabbing near 291 Highway and I-470 | The Kansas City Star," 5 May 2018
The officers activated their lights and siren in an attempt to stop the car, prompting the man to drive over — and get stuck on — the median in the road, police said.

— elise takahama, BostonGlobe.com, "Maine man arrested on gun charge after driving wrong way in Dorchester," 4 May 2018
Garza Palacios’s Honda struck both, throwing their bodies over a concrete median into the northbound lanes of the interstate, where Cohen was hit by another car and died.

— dan morse, Washington Post, "ICE officers arrest driver in crash that killed two law enforcement officers in Maryland," 4 May 2018
As for council's misunderstanding of the project deadline, minutes of the Oct. 2 Service and Safety Committee show that Councilman Goodwin asked when the median had to be completed.

— bob sandrick, cleveland.com, "Lone bidder on Ohio 82 beautification in Broadview Heights still working on project, despite Dec. 31 deadline," 1 May 2018
The median also can be influenced by the mix of houses sold.

— kenneth r. gosselin, courant.com, "Connecticut Home Sales Fall, Prices Rise in March," 1 May 2018
For decades, Arizona’s teacher pay was roughly aligned with the U.S. median tracked by the National Education Association teachers union.

— michelle hackman, WSJ, "When Teachers Strike, Parents Face Dilemma," 30 Apr. 2018
The median has gone up more than 45 percent since then, landing at $219,600 in March.

— richard webner, San Antonio Express-News, "Tight housing market is hostile to San Antonio homebuyers," 30 Apr. 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

The median debt owed by people 75 and up is still fairly modest, at $20,900.

— russ wiles, azcentral, "The new normal: Carrying debt at age 75 and up," 6 May 2018
And as with most new dwellings, they're priced above the median home in Charlotte ($235,000 in March).

— ely portillo, charlotteobserver, "From $300,000 to $1.6 million, here's what you can buy for new houses in Charlotte | Charlotte Observer," 4 May 2018
If successful, the referendum would add $346 annually to the property tax bill for a home valued at $380,000, the median home value in Park Ridge, according to district officials.

— heather cherone, chicagotribune.com, "New classrooms, new library among Maine East proposals as district officials consider referendum plan," 4 May 2018
But consider: Six miles away, in Mattapan, that same money would buy 20 single-family homes, according to 2017 median sales figures from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

— beth teitell, BostonGlobe.com, "In Boston’s ultra-luxury condo market, what does $63,000 buy? A marble sink top — for the bathroom," 3 May 2018
The Bureau of Labour Statistics reports median earnings of $42,000, or about $20 an hour, a sum that may dwindle after expenses.

— The Economist, "An all-American industry changes the all-American way," 3 May 2018
The median cost of a single-family house in Seattle has jumped 110 percent to $820,000, while rents have increased 64 percent, with the typical two-bedroom now costing more than $2,000.

— the seattle times, OregonLive.com, "Amazon shelves Seattle expansion plans over proposed tax hike," 3 May 2018
The median rent for a vacant apartment jumped an annual rate of nearly 5.5% to $2,428.

— andrew khouri, latimes.com, "High housing costs are driving out lower-income Californians, reports say," 3 May 2018
The median time to a first FDA approval was 5.2 years for drugs that given a breakthrough designation versus 7.1 years for cancer medicines that were not considered to be breakthroughs.

— ed silverman, STAT, "The latest look at FDA’s breakthrough designation finds no benefits from cancer meds," 1 May 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