medial

American  

[mee-dee-uhl] / ˈmi di əl /

adjective

1. situated in or pertaining to the middle; median; intermediate.

2. pertaining to a mean or average; average.

3. ordinary.

4. Phonetics. within a word or syllable; neither initial nor final, as the t, a, and n in stand.

5. Entomology. pertaining to, involving, or situated near the media.

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noun

1. Phonetics.

   1. a medial sound or letter.

   2. media.

medial British  

/ ˈmiːdɪəl /

adjective

1. of or situated in the middle

2. ordinary or average in size

3. maths relating to an average

4. another word for median median median

5. zoology of or relating to a media

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noun

1. phonetics a speech sound between being fortis and lenis; media

Other Word Forms

• medially adverb
• postmedial adjective
• submedial adjective
• submedially adverb
• supermedial adjective
• supermedially adverb

Etymology

Origin of medial

First recorded in 1560–70, medial is from the Late Latin word mediālis middle. See medium, -al ¹

Example Sentences

Recall, James suffered a grade 2 sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee in the deciding loss.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

Following tests, Romero is now expected to miss up to eight weeks with a high-grade partial tear of his medial cruciate ligament.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

James, who suffered a sprained medial collageral ligament in the Lakers’ final game of the first round, has a $52-million player option for next season.

From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2025

They would identify the smell of bananas, garlic, licorice, fish and so on, while the researchers took recordings of the activity of individual neurons in their piriform cortex and medial temporal lobe.

From Salon • Feb. 15, 2025

In G. and R. medial ḍ is pronounced as a rough cerebral ṛ, and is then so transcribed.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 6 "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad" by Various