1. Central; middle; lying in the midline. SYN: medianus. 2. The middle value in a set of measurements; like the mean, a measure of central tendency. [L. medianus, middle]
* * *
me·di·an 'mēd-ē-ən n
1) a medial part (as a vein or nerve)
2 a) a value in an ordered set of values below and above which there is an equal number of values or which is the arithmetic mean of the two middle values if there is no one middle number
b) a vertical line that divides the histogram of a frequency distribution into two parts of equal area
median adj situated in the middle specif lying in a plane dividing a bilateral animal into right and left halves
* * *
adj.
* * *
me·di·an (meґde-ən) [L. medianus] 1. situated in the median plane or in the midline of a body or structure. 2. any value that divides the probability distribution of a random variable in half, i.e., the probability of observing a value above the median and the probability of observing a value below the median are both less than or equal to one half. For a finite population or sample, the median is the middle value of an odd number of values (arranged in ascending order) or any value between the two middle values of an even number of values; in the latter case it is conventional to use the average of the two middle values. Symbol m.Medical dictionary. 2011.