What does mediums mean?
The plural mediums can denote either people who serve as intermediaries in spiritual communication or the channels through which information and entertainment are conveyed. In the first sense, a medium is someone believed to receive and transmit messages from spirits or other nonphysical sources; the plural is often used in discussions of spiritualism, séances, and psychic practices. In the second sense, mediums means methods, systems, or forms of communication, although media is usually more natural for established channels such as radio, television, and newspapers. The word can also appear as the third-person singular form of the verb medium, meaning to act as an intermediary. Across these senses, its central idea is mediation: a person, means, or process that enables something to pass between people, places, or domains. The diversity of meanings makes mediums especially useful when discussing communication as a physical process, a cultural institution, or a claim about supernatural contact.
In the plural, the word refers either to people through whom spiritual communication is said to occur or to channels and means of communication.
"The exhibition brought together mediums, broadcasters, and online publishers to discuss the future of communication."
Media is usually preferred for conventional communication channels; mediums is especially common when referring to spiritual practitioners.
Third-person singular present of medium: to act as an intermediary, especially by purportedly communicating messages from spirits.
"She mediums at the weekly gathering in a small private ceremony."
This grammatical form is uncommon in ordinary modern prose.
The standard plural of medium is mediums. Context determines whether it means spiritual practitioners or communication channels.
"Different mediums serve very different kinds of audiences."
A medium can be a broadcasting channel, a spiritual communicator, or even a person's temperament: the same word neatly spans technology, belief, and personality.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does mediums come from?
The word comes from Latin medium, meaning “middle,” used for an intervening person, substance, or method. Latin medius, “middle,” is also the source of related English words such as median, immediate, mediate, and mediocre. The spiritual sense developed from the idea of a person acting as an intermediary between the living and the dead, while the communication sense refers to a means or channel of transmission.
Related word forms
How mediums is actually used
In the plural form, the meaning depends heavily on context. When referring to spiritual practitioners, medium usually takes the definite article or an identifying modifier. For channels of communication, media is generally more idiomatic than mediums, although the latter is common in figurative or technical phrasing. The verb sense is uncommon.
Easily confused with mediums
Medians are values or lines in the middle of a set, range, or group, whereas mediums are people who practise spiritualism or the channels through which communication is transmitted.