Medial vs. Median — What's the Difference?

Located near the midline of the body or part.

A value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data set.

Pertaining to structures closer to the center of the body.

Less affected by extreme values in a data set.

Anatomical term denoting central location.

In statistics, a measure of central tendency.

Inward from the side; toward the midline.

The middle number in a sorted list of numbers.

Situated in the middle.

A dividing line or point in geometry or roadway design.

Relating to the middle or center relative to other positions.

In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value.

Relating to, situated in, or extending toward the middle; median.

Relating to, located in, or extending toward the middle.

(Linguistics) Being a sound, syllable, or letter occurring between the initial and final positions in a word or morpheme.

(Anatomy) Of, relating to, or situated in or near the plane that divides a bilaterally symmetrical animal into right and left halves; mesial.

(Mathematics) Being or relating to an average or a mean.

(Statistics) Relating to or constituting the middle value in a distribution.

Average; ordinary.

A median point, plane, line, or part.

A voiced stop, such as (b), (d), or (g). Also called media2.

The dividing area, either paved or landscaped, between opposing lanes of traffic on some highways. Also called regionally boulevard, mall, median strip, meridian, neutral ground.

A sound, letter, or form of a letter that is neither initial nor final.

(Statistics) The middle value in a distribution, above and below which lie an equal number of values.

(math) Of or pertaining to a mean or average.

A line that joins a vertex of a triangle to the midpoint of the opposite side.

Situated in or near the middle; not at either end.

The line that joins the midpoints of the nonparallel sides of a trapezoid.

Pertaining to the inside; closer to the median plane of the body or the midline of an organ.

A central vein or nerve, especially the median vein or median nerve running through the forearm and arm.

(entomology) Of or pertaining to the media and/or the areas of the wing next to it.

(geometry) A line segment joining the vertex of triangle to the midpoint of the opposing side.

(phonetics) of a speech sound In the middle of a word.

(statistics) A number separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, population, or probability distribution. The median of a finite list of numbers can be found by arranging all the observations from lowest value to highest value and picking the middle one (e.g., the median of {3, 3, 5, 9, 11} is 5). If there is an even number of observations, then there is no single middle value; the median is then usually defined to be the mean of the two middle values.

(phonetics) of a consonant Central: produced when air flows across the center of the mouth over the tongue.

(US) The area separating two lanes of opposite-direction traffic; the median strip.

(linguistics) Closer to the addressee.

(anatomy) Situated in a middle, central, or intermediate part, section, or range of (something).

Any of various things that occur in the middle.

In the middle of an organ, structure etc.; towards the median plane of an organ or limb.

One or more letters that occur in the middle of a word.

(statistics) Having the median as its value.

Of or pertaining to a mean or average; mean; as, medial alligation.

Being in the middle; running through the middle; as, a median groove.

See 2d Media.

Situated in the middle; lying in a plane dividing a bilateral animal into right and left halves; - said of unpaired organs and parts; as, median coverts.

Dividing an animal into right and left halves

A median line or point.

Relating to or situated in or extending toward the middle

The value below which 50% of the cases fall

Relating to or constituting the middle value of an ordered set of values (or the average of the middle two in an even-numbered set);

Dividing an animal into right and left halves

Relating to or situated in or extending toward the middle

In anatomy, medial refers to a position or structure that is closer to the midline or center of the body or organ compared to other parts.

While medial can be used more broadly to describe anything related to the middle, its most precise and common usage is within anatomical contexts.

In economics, the median, such as median income or wealth, helps to understand the economic status of a population, providing insight into income distribution and potential inequality.

Medial and intermediate can both relate to positions within the body, but medial specifically refers to being closer to the midline, while intermediate implies being between two structures.

The median value is determined by arranging the data set in numerical order and identifying the middle number, or the average of the two middle numbers if the set has an even number of values.

There can be multiple structures or points considered medial within a larger structure, as long as they are closer to the midline compared to others.

The median is the middle value in an ordered data set, while the mean is the average of all values. The median is less affected by extreme values compared to the mean.

The median is useful because it provides a central value that is less influenced by outliers or extremely high or low values, offering a more representative measure of the central tendency in skewed data sets.

The terms medial and median serve different purposes, with medial used for anatomical positions and median for statistical central values, making their contexts distinct.

Outliers have less impact on the median compared to other measures like the mean, as the median focuses on the central position in the data set, not the values themselves.