media

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin media, the feminine nominative of medius (“middle”, adjective), from Proto-Italic *meðjos, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between”). In the sense of a unit of dry measure, via Spanish media. Doublet of medium, medio, and mediate.

noun

1. (anatomy) The middle layer of the wall of a blood vessel or lymph vessel which is composed of connective and muscular tissue.
2. (linguistics, dated) A voiced stop consonant.
3. (entomology) One of the major veins of the insect wing, between the radius and the cubitus
4. (zoology) An ant specialized as a forager in a leaf-cutter ant colony.
5. (historical) Synonym of cuarto: a half-fanega, a traditional Spanish unit of dry measure equivalent to about 27.8 L

Etymology 2

Latinate plural of medium, particularly as a clipping of communications media and often reinterpreted as singular or mass noun, from Latin media, neuter plural form of medius (“middle”, adjective), from Proto-Italic *meðjos, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between”).

noun

1. plural of medium

noun

1. (often treated as uncountable) Means and institutions for publishing and broadcasting information.
   As a result of the rise of, first, television news and entertainment media and, second, web-based media, traditional print-based media has declined in popularity.
2. (often treated as uncountable) The totality of content items (television shows, films, books, photographs, etc.) which are broadcast or published.
   Fighter pilots are depicted as cool in popular media like Top Gun.
   […] yet they are all wildly popular pieces of media, viewed by millions of Christians and non-Christians alike. Why? Because they are first and foremost masterful movies and TV shows. Their creators made something worth seeing and sharing. 2020, Jordan Raynor, Master of One: Find and Focus on the Work You Were Created to Do, page 161
3. (usually with a definite article; often treated as uncountable) The journalists and other professionals who comprise the mass communication industry.
   Some celebrities dislike press conferences, where the media bombards them with questions.
4. (computing) Files and data comprising material viewable by humans, but usually not plain text; audiovisual material.

Etymology 3

Shortening from multimedia, from multi- + media (“forms of communication”).

adj

1. (computing) Clipping of multimedia.
   I have media files stored on an external hard drive.
   Adjust media sound in multiple apps