Medium

From Nordan Symposia
Jump to navigationJump to search

Lighterstill.jpg

Processingmedium.jpg

English

Pronunciation

Noun

medium (see individual senses for plurals)

  1. The nature of the surrounding environment, eg solid, liquid, gas, vacuum, or a specific substance such as a solvent.
  2. The material or empty space through which signals, waves or forces pass.
  3. A format for communicating or presenting information.
  4. A nutrient solution for the growth of cells in vitro
  5. The means or channel by which an aim is achieved.
  6. A liquid base which carries pigment in paint.
  7. Someone who supposedly conveys information from the spirit world
  8. Anything having a measurement intermediate between extremes, such as a garment or container.
  9. A person whom garments or apparel of intermediate size fit.

Quotations

  • 1996 (sense 4): In some instances one can take advantage of differential carbohydrate fermentation capabilities of microorganisms by incorporating one or more carbohydrates in the medium along with a suitable pH indicator. Such media are called differential media (e.g., eosin methylene blue or MacConkey agar) and are commonly used to isolate enteric bacilli. — Medical Microbiology, ed. Samuel Baron, MD.

Communication

  • Data storage device, any physical material that records or holds recorded information
    • Art medium, materials and techniques used by artists to produce art works
  • Transmission medium, in physics and telecommunications, any material substance which can propagate waves or energy

Economics

  • Medium of exchange, any monetary instrument used to pay for goods and/or services

Education

  • Medium of instruction, any language or other tools used to educate, train, or instruct

Measurement

Natural Science

In general, a medium is a material that is either itself undergoing a process that is being studied or used (e.g. transmission medium), or enabling another process of interest (e.g. growth medium). Specific examples include the following:

  • Processing medium, in industrial engineering, a material that plays a role in manufacturing processes
  • Excitable medium, a nonlinear dynamic system which has the capacity to propagate a wave
  • Growth medium (or culture medium), in biotechnology, an object in which microorganisms or cells experience growth
  • Interplanetary medium, in astronomy, material which fills the solar system
  • Interstellar medium, in astronomy, the matter and energy content that exists between the stars within a galaxy

Paranormal and New Age

  • Mediumship (see article on channel), a practice in which a person acts as an intermediary between the physical world and what is believed to be a spiritual world.

Titles/Names

Dramatic works

  • The Medium, an opera by Gian-Carlo Menotti
  • Medium (TV series), a television series about a research medium for a district attorney's office

Print

  • The Medium (Rutgers)|The Medium, an entertainment weekly at Rutgers University