mindmap
root((MEDI))
median
In the middle; especially, having a value that is in the middle of a series of values arranged from smallest to largest.
🌱The city's west side is well-off but its east side isn't, so the city's median house prices are typical for the region. 🌳People often use the word average without realizing that there are two common forms of average. Suppose you want to find the average net worth of a group of people—that is, the average value of everything they possess. To find one type of average, called the mean, you'd simply add up the total value of money and property of everyone in the group and divide it by the number of people. To find the other type, called the median, you'd identify the net worth of the person who is richer than half the people and poorer than the other half. So if Warren Buffett drove through a tiny village in India, the mean net worth of those in the village would suddenly rise to perhaps a billion dollars, but their median net worth would remain close to zero. Which figure would be more meaningful? mediate 1、 To work with opposing sides in an argument or dispute in order to get an agreement.
2、 To achieve a settlement or agreement by working with the opposing sides.
🌱He was the third person who had attempted to mediate the dispute between the firm and its striking workers, the first two having given up in despair. 🌳Mediation is often used in disputes between companies and labor unions, and the government actually provides mediators for such disagreements. The mediator tries to bring the two sides to an agreement, but doesn't have the power to actually order such an agreement. Mediators also sometimes have a role in international disputes; when two neighboring countries claim exclusive fishing rights in the same ocean waters, for example, they may invite a trained mediator to help settle the argument. Arbitration is similar to mediation, but in arbitration both parties in a dispute agree to accept the arbitrator's decision. intermediary A person who works with opposing sides in a dispute in order to bring about an agreement.
🌱The divorce had been bitter, and the two now communicated only through an old friend who they both trusted as an intermediary. 🌳Since inter- means "between, among" （See INTER,） an intermediary is someone who moves back and forth in the middle area between two sides—a "go-between." Mediator （which shares the medi- root is often a synonym, and so is facilitator; broker and agent are often others. Thus, a real-estate broker or agent shuttles between a house's buyer and seller, who may never even meet each other. Financial intermediation is what happens when you put money in a bank or investment firm, which then invests it in various companies; if you want, you can instead cut out the intermediary and invest the money directly in companies of your own choosing. mediocrity The quality of being not very good.
🌱He's the kind of person who can get depressed by the mediocrity of a dinner, or even a wine. 🌳People interested in words always point out that mediocrity doesn't mean quite what its main root would indicate: Why doesn't it describe something that's right in the middle of the pack, exactly what you would expect? Instead the words mediocrity and mediocre always suggest disappointment. A mediocre play is one you wish you hadn't wasted an evening on, and the mediocre actor in it should probably find another profession. A person can even be called a mediocrity, though it isn't very nice and you'd never do it to his face.
🌱The city's west side is well-off but its east side isn't, so the city's median house prices are typical for the region. 🌳People often use the word average without realizing that there are two common forms of average. Suppose you want to find the average net worth of a group of people—that is, the average value of everything they possess. To find one type of average, called the mean, you'd simply add up the total value of money and property of everyone in the group and divide it by the number of people. To find the other type, called the median, you'd identify the net worth of the person who is richer than half the people and poorer than the other half. So if Warren Buffett drove through a tiny village in India, the mean net worth of those in the village would suddenly rise to perhaps a billion dollars, but their median net worth would remain close to zero. Which figure would be more meaningful? mediate 1、 To work with opposing sides in an argument or dispute in order to get an agreement.
2、 To achieve a settlement or agreement by working with the opposing sides.
🌱He was the third person who had attempted to mediate the dispute between the firm and its striking workers, the first two having given up in despair. 🌳Mediation is often used in disputes between companies and labor unions, and the government actually provides mediators for such disagreements. The mediator tries to bring the two sides to an agreement, but doesn't have the power to actually order such an agreement. Mediators also sometimes have a role in international disputes; when two neighboring countries claim exclusive fishing rights in the same ocean waters, for example, they may invite a trained mediator to help settle the argument. Arbitration is similar to mediation, but in arbitration both parties in a dispute agree to accept the arbitrator's decision. intermediary A person who works with opposing sides in a dispute in order to bring about an agreement.
🌱The divorce had been bitter, and the two now communicated only through an old friend who they both trusted as an intermediary. 🌳Since inter- means "between, among" （See INTER,） an intermediary is someone who moves back and forth in the middle area between two sides—a "go-between." Mediator （which shares the medi- root is often a synonym, and so is facilitator; broker and agent are often others. Thus, a real-estate broker or agent shuttles between a house's buyer and seller, who may never even meet each other. Financial intermediation is what happens when you put money in a bank or investment firm, which then invests it in various companies; if you want, you can instead cut out the intermediary and invest the money directly in companies of your own choosing. mediocrity The quality of being not very good.
🌱He's the kind of person who can get depressed by the mediocrity of a dinner, or even a wine. 🌳People interested in words always point out that mediocrity doesn't mean quite what its main root would indicate: Why doesn't it describe something that's right in the middle of the pack, exactly what you would expect? Instead the words mediocrity and mediocre always suggest disappointment. A mediocre play is one you wish you hadn't wasted an evening on, and the mediocre actor in it should probably find another profession. A person can even be called a mediocrity, though it isn't very nice and you'd never do it to his face.
MEDI comes from the Latin medius, meaning "middle." Our word medium refers to something in a middle position. The medieval period of European history, also known as the Middle Ages, is the period between Greek and Roman antiquity and the "modern age." But why people around 1620 began to use the term "Middle Ages," because they regarded themselves as modern, is an interesting question.🌸