median

noun me·di·an \ ˈmē-dē-ən \

|Updated on: 18 Jul 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

The wreck happened around 4 p.m. Friday on Route 1 when, for unknown reasons, 44-year-old Alvin Hubbard crossed over the grassy center median and started driving the wrong direction.

— CBS News, "Survivor speaks out after multi-car crash kills man, 4 daughters," 10 July 2018
The pedestrian was crossing 23rd Street just east of Harvard Avenue about 1:30 p.m. when a westbound 2012 Chevrolet Suburban on 23rd drove onto the center median and hit him.

— joe robertson, kansascity, "SUV jumps median, hits and kills pedestrian in Independence," 17 June 2018
WJBK-TV Channel 2 is reporting that the man was driving northbound on Woodward before crossing the median into the southbound lanes and hitting the building.

— caroline blackmon, Detroit Free Press, "Driver dies after vehicle crashes into doctor's office in Berkley," 5 June 2018
Officer Jeffrey Page, an on-duty police officer, was driving his patrol car, when the man ran from the center median and into the path of the car, police said.

— lavendrick smith, charlotteobserver, "80-year-old man seriously injured he ran in front of cop car, CMPD says," 1 June 2018
Paulson, 77, of Waukesha, was driving his 2015 Chevrolet sedan east on Indiana Toll Road Interstate 80 when his vehicle drove into the center median and then into oncoming westbound traffic, according to a statement issued Thursday, May 24, by Sgt.

— darryl enriquez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Waukesha County Board Supervisor Duane Paulson could be in intensive care for up to six weeks following car crash in Indiana," 24 May 2018
Nugent then pulled the Taurus into the center median of the highway.

— bob warren, NOLA.com, "Infant killed, driver arrested in I-12 crash on North Shore," 3 May 2018
According to Kayak, the median airfare prices are the cheapest the travel site has seen in three summers.

— jason lemon, ajc, "Summer 2018: The cheapest European cities to fly to from every state," 2 May 2018
All 17 eucalyptus trees in the center medians along Grand Avenue between Escondido Boulevard and Juniper Street in downtown Escondido are being chopped down this week.

— j. harry jones, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Eucalyptus trees along Grand Avenue coming down quickly," 1 May 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 ratio of pay for CEO Gary Heminger to the median employee is 935-to-1, but take away the folks at the gas stations and the ratio drops to 156-to-1.

— Houston Chronicle, "Competition for top talent keeps pay scale high in oil industry," 13 July 2018
On average, as the median voter in OECD countries ages by one year, the share of GDP spent on pensions increases by 0.25 percentage points.

— The Economist, "The welfare state needs updating," 12 July 2018
The new median justice will be Chief Justice John Roberts, a mostly reliable conservative who has proven remarkably willing to overturn decades-old precedents.

— dylan matthews, Vox, "America under Brett Kavanaugh," 11 July 2018
The National Association for Business Economists June survey produced a median forecast of 2.8 percent growth this year and 2.5 percent next year.

— brooks jackson, Philly.com, "Trump's Numbers (Second Quarterly Update) | FactCheck," 11 July 2018
The median pay gap between men and women doing comparable jobs has fallen to 7.6 percent from 9.3 percent since last year amid a series of initiatives that included introducing simpler job descriptions and repositioning people within pay ranges.

— ceylan yeginsu, New York Times, "BBC Closes Gender Pay Gap, but Men Are Still Its 12 Highest-Paid Stars," 11 July 2018
Biotech is having a banner year on Wall Street, with 33 IPOs to date and a median return rivaling that of the industry’s last boom.

— damian garde, STAT, "Biotech IPOs are soaring. This one will test investors’ appetite for risk," 9 July 2018
While the median height of the top ten might be at a record, well, smaller players are holding their own.

— jon wertheim, SI.com, "Five Thoughts From Day Four at Wimbledon," 5 July 2018
By contrast, the Federal Reserve found that the same age demographic had a median $5,000 in a savings account.

— refinery29.com, "Do You Really Need A Bajillion Dollars By The Time You're 35?," 2 July 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