||Me"di*a (?), n., pl. of Medium.
||Me"di*a, n.; pl. Mediæ (-). [NL., fr. L. medius middle.] (Phonetics)
||One of the sonant mutes β, δ, γ (b, d, g), in Greek,
||or of their equivalents in other languages, so named as intermediate
||between the tenues, π, τ, κ (p, t, k), and the aspiratæ
||(aspirates) φ, θ, χ (ph or f, th, ch). Also called
||middle mute, or medial, and sometimes soft mute.
Me"di*a*cy (?), n. The state or quality of being mediate. Sir W.
Hamilton.
Me`di*æ"val (?), a. [L. medius middle + aevum age. See Middle, and
Age.] Of or relating to the Middle Ages; as, mediæval architecture.
[Written also medieval.]
Me`di*æ"val*ism (?), n. The method or spirit of the Middle Ages;
devotion to the institutions and practices of the Middle Ages; a
survival from the Middle Ages. [Written also medievalism.]
Me`di*æ"val*ist, n. One who has a taste for, or is versed in, the
history of the Middle Ages; one in sympathy with the spirit or forms of
the Middle Ages. [Written also medievalist.]
Me`di*æ"val*ly, adv. In the manner of the Middle Ages; in accordance
with mediævalism.
Me`di*æ"vals (?), n. pl. The people who lived in the Middle Ages.
Ruskin.
Me"di*al (?), a. [L. medialis, fr. medius middle: cf. F. médial. See
Middle.] Of or pertaining to a mean or average; mean; as, medial
alligation.
Me"di*al, n. (Phonetics) See 2d Media.
||Me"di*a*lu"na (?), n. [Sp. media luna half-moon.] (Zoöl.) See Half-
||moon.
Me"di*an (?), a. [L. medianus, fr. medius middle. See Medial.] 1. Being
in the middle; running through the middle; as, a median groove.
2. (Zoöl.) Situated in the middle; lying in a plane dividing a
bilateral animal into right and left halves; -- said of unpaired organs
and parts; as, median coverts.
Median line. (a) (Anat.) Any line in the mesial plane; specif., either
of the lines in which the mesial plane meets the surface of the body.
(b) (Geom.) The line drawn from an angle of a triangle to the middle of
the opposite side; any line having the nature of a diameter. -- Median
plane (Anat.), the mesial plane. -- Median point (Geom.), the point
where the three median lines of a triangle mutually intersect.
Me"di*an, n. (Geom.) A median line or point.
Me"di*ant (?), n. [L. medians, p. p. of mediare to halve: cf. It.
mediante, F. médiante.] (Mus.) The third above the keynote; -- so
called because it divides the interval between the tonic and dominant
into two thirds.
Me`di*as*ti"nal (?), a. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to a mediastinum.
{ Me`di*as"tine (?), ||Me`di*as*ti"num (?), } n. [NL. mediastinum, fr.
L. medius middle; cf. mediastinus helper, a menial servant, LL.
mediastinus equiv. to medius: cf F. médiastin.] (Anat.) A partition; a
septum; specifically, the folds of the pleura (and the space included
between them) which divide the thorax into a right and left cavity. The
space included between these folds of the pleura, called the
mediastinal space, contains the heart and gives passage to the
esophagus and great blood vessels.
Me"di*ate (?), a. [L. mediatus, p. p. of mediare, v. t., to halve, v.
i., to be in the middle. See Mid, and cf. Moiety.] 1. Being between the
two extremes; middle; interposed; intervening; intermediate. Prior.
2. Acting by means, or by an intervening cause or instrument; not
direct or immediate; acting or suffering through an intervening agent
or condition.