median

noun

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me·di·an | \ ˈmē-dē-ən

Definition of median

(Entry 1 of 2)

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

2a : 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

3a : a line from a vertex (see vertex sense 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 sense 1a)

4 : median strip

median

adjective

Definition of median (Entry 2 of 2)

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

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Choose the Right Synonym for median

Noun

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

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?

Examples of median in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun In 2019, a study by Action St. Louis and several other local groups found that 52 percent of low-income residents of St. Louis and 48 percent of the city’s Black residents face energy burdens that are more than twice the citywide median. — Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 3 June 2021 The resulting bidding wars raised the price of the typical, or median, house to $341,600 last month, the NAR said, a record high. — CBS News, 25 May 2021 The results were impressive: there was a median of 15 violent/aggressive acts before the training, 3 afterward, and 6 one year later. — Christine Ro, Forbes, 8 Apr. 2021 Woods' vehicle crossed the center median and the opposing traffic lane before rolling over several times and coming to a stop. — USA TODAY, 26 Feb. 2021 Surveillance video shows the 11-year-old girl sitting on a grassy median around 7 a.m. on Tuesday. — Washington Post, 19 May 2021 Based on the median of analyst estimates collected by Visible Alpha, GE’s aviation sales won’t recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2023 and profits will take even longer. — Jon Sindreu, WSJ, 27 Apr. 2021 Homeowners will pay $8,362 in property tax on a median priced home of $335,600. — C. M. Schmidlkofer, Washington Examiner, 18 Mar. 2021 As the Walk SF team tied a bouquet and card to a post on a median, a driver whizzed past and honked angrily, coming within inches of Holman. — Heather Knight, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Mar. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective The median home price in L.A. County clocked in at $750,000 in April, so The Times took at look at seven homes in seven L.A. communities on the market for a little less: $700,000. — Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2021 The median sales price for homes also reached a record high of $352,975. — Amy Dobson, Forbes, 28 May 2021 The median price for an existing home surged almost 20% from a year earlier to $341,600, an all-time high. — Arkansas Online, 28 May 2021 The company said median wages are also up in major cities because there are more customers seeking trips than drivers to provide them, hiking up fares. — Washington Post, 7 May 2021 Adding to the crunch for workers is that Orlando has the lowest median wages of the top 50 metro areas nationally at just $15.94 per hour. — Trevor Fraser, orlandosentinel.com, 12 Mar. 2021 The bill would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by June 2025 and then adjust it to increase at the same rate as median hourly wages. — Kevin Freking, Star Tribune, 26 Feb. 2021 The bill would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by June 2025 and then adjust it to increase at the same rate as median hourly wages. — Kevin Freking, ajc, 26 Feb. 2021 In Kansas, a family of four with two unemployed adults who had earned U.S. median wages could get paid, including the Biden add-on package, the after-tax equivalent of more than $135,000 on an annual basis without working an hour. — Casey B. Mulligan And Stephen Moore, WSJ, 25 Feb. 2021

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.

History and Etymology for median

Noun

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

Adjective

Latin medianus — see median entry 1

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Last Updated

13 Jun 2021

Cite this Entry

“Median.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/median. Accessed 13 Jun. 2021.

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More Definitions for median

median

noun

English Language Learners Definition of median

(Entry 1 of 2)

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

median

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of median (Entry 2 of 2)

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

See the full definition for median in the English Language Learners Dictionary

median

noun

me·di·an | \ ˈmē-dē-ən \

Kids Definition of median

: 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.

median

noun

me·di·an | \ ˈmēd-ē-ən

Medical Definition of median

(Entry 1 of 2)

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

2a : 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

median

adjective

Medical Definition of median (Entry 2 of 2)

: situated in the middle specifically : lying in a plane dividing a bilateral animal into right and left halves