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• median
  median

  noun

  the middle number in a given sequence of numbers, taken as the average of the two middle numbers when the sequence has an even number of numbers.
• Median
  Median

  adjective

  of or relating to Media, the Medes, or their language.

median

¹ American  

[mee-dee-uhn] / ˈmi di ən /

noun

• medians
  plural

1. Arithmetic, Statistics. the middle number in a given sequence of numbers, taken as the average of the two middle numbers when the sequence has an even number of numbers.

   4 is the median of 1, 3, 4, 8, 9.

2. Geometry. a straight line from a vertex of a triangle to the midpoint of the opposite side.

3. Also called midpoint. a vertical line that divides a histogram into two equal parts.

4. median strip.

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adjective

1. Statistics. relating to the value in the center of the distribution for an array of data.

   the median income of American households.

2. noting or relating to a plane dividing something into two equal parts, especially one dividing an animal into right and left halves.

3. situated in or relating to the middle; medial.

Median ² American  

[mee-dee-uhn] / ˈmi di ən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Media, the Medes, or their language.

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noun

1. a Mede.

2. the Iranian language of ancient Media, contemporaneous with Old Persian.

median British  

/ ˈmiːdɪən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, situated in, or directed towards the middle

2. biology of or relating to the plane that divides an organism or organ into symmetrical parts

3. statistics of or relating to the median

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noun

1. a middle point, plane, or part

2. geometry

   1. a straight line joining one vertex of a triangle to the midpoint of the opposite side See also centroid

   2. a straight line joining the midpoints of the nonparallel sides of a trapezium

3. statistics the middle value in a frequency distribution, below and above which lie values with equal total frequencies

4. statistics the middle number or average of the two middle numbers in an ordered sequence of numbers

   7 is the median of both 1, 7, 31 and 2, 5, 9, l6

5. Also called: central reservation. the strip, often covered with grass, that separates the two sides of a highway

median Scientific  

/ mē′dē-ən /

1. In a sequence of numbers arranged from smallest to largest:

   1. The middle number, when such a sequence has an odd number of values. For example, in the sequence 3, 4, 14, 35, 280, the median is 14.

   2. The average of the two middle numbers, when such a sequence has an even number of values. For example, in the sequence 4, 8, 10, 56, the median is 9 (the average of 8 and 10).

2. A line joining a vertex of a triangle to the midpoint of the opposite side.

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median ¹ Cultural  

1. The point in a series at which half of the values or units of the series are higher and half lower.

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median ² Cultural  

1. In statistics, the middle value of a set of numbers or data points; half the figures will fall below the median and half above. (See average; compare mean and mode.)

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Usage

What’s the difference between median, mean, mode, and average? In the context of mathematics and statistics, the median is the middle number in a set of values when those values are arranged from smallest to largest. In contrast, the word mean refers to what’s informally called the average—the sum of a set of values divided by the number of values. The mode of a set of values is the most frequently repeated value in the set. The word average is of course also very commonly used in more general ways. In math, though, it’s helpful to use more specific terms when determining the most representative or common value in a set of numbers. To illustrate the difference, let’s look at an example set of seven values: 2, 3, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9. To get the mean of this set, you’d add up all the values (2+3+3+4+6+8+9=35) and then divide that total by the number of values (7), resulting in a mean of 5. This is what most people are referring to when they refer to the average of some set of numbers. To find the median, you have to find the one that’s sequentially in the middle. In a set of seven numbers arranged in increasing value, the median is the fourth number (since there are three before and three after). In this set (2, 3, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9), the median is 4. When a set has an even number of values, the median is the mean of the two middle values. The mode is simply the value that shows up the most. In the example set, the mode is 3, since it occurs twice and all the other values occur only once. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between median, mean, mode, and average.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• premedian
  noun
• postmedian
  adjective
• submedian
  adjective
• medianly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• medians
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of median¹

First recorded in 1535–45, median is from the Latin word mediānus in the middle. See medium, -an

Origin of Median²

First recorded in 1595–1605; Medi(a) + -an

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Explanation

Median means middle. When a strip of grass divides one direction of a highway from another, it's called a median because it runs through the middle. Median comes from the Latin word medius, which also means middle. In math, the median is a number in the middle of a list. In the set 2, 3, 5, 10, 25, the median is 5. The statistical median is often linked to the idea of an average. A town's average income might seem high if there are two extremely rich people who live there. The median will tell you the income of the person halfway through the list.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

median Median medians

It is significantly more suburban than Maine, and median household income is more than $24,000 higher.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an independent think tank, offers a more modest idea: Simply limit the dollar value of COLAs for higher earners to the amount received by median beneficiaries.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

The participants included 114 women and 80 men, with a median age of 69 years and a median body mass index of 28.4.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

September’s reading marked the fastest rise since June 2022 and topped the median 4.5% increase projected by economists in a poll by The Wall Street Journal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

He’s standing on the median that’s perpendicular to ours, and he’s holding a plastic shopping bag from Walgreens with what looks like bags of Halloween candy inside.

From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina

Median scores for daily activities increased from 53 to 71.5, suggesting that routine movements such as walking and climbing stairs became easier.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

Median down payments have increased a bit this year as the rise in mortgage rates has encouraged buyers to spend more money upfront to lower their monthly payments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

Median earnings for full-time male workers fell $690, while rising $1,900 for full-time female workers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

Median rent for a two-bedroom home was about $1,893 nationwide in July, not including utilities or insurance, and for a buyer today, the typical monthly mortgage payment, at current interest rates, was $2,641.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

Alexander Helios wore the native dress of the Median king.

From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby

Investors choose to focus on the medians of the policymaker forecasts.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

That could include policies like forced medians, distribution guidelines or being transparent about grades given.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026

Overall survival also differed significantly, with medians of 42 months and 14 months, respectively.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 8, 2025

As former Fed economist Claudia Sahm has written, “The medians in the SEP aren’t the Fed forecast and never will be.”

From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2025

During my high school summers, I cut grass in parks and on the medians of highways, unloaded trucks, and walked beside road-paving equipment with a rake to smooth the hot asphalt along the curbs.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

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