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Origin and history of medial

medial(adj.)

1560s, "pertaining to a mathematical mean," from Late Latin medialis "of the middle," from Latin medius "in the middle, between; from the middle," as a noun (medium) "the middle;" from PIE root *medhyo- "middle." Meaning "occupying a middle position, existing between two extremities or extremes" is attested from 1721.

medial(n.)

"a medial letter," 1776, from medial (adj.).

also from 1776

Entries linking to medial

in medias res

Latin, literally "in the midst of things," from medias, accusative fem. plural of medius "middle" (see medial (adj.)) + accusative plural of res "a thing" (see re). From Horace, in reference to narrative technique:

Semper ad eventum festinat, et in medias res,
Non secus ac notas auditorem rapit (etc.)
medially(adv.)

"in a medial or central position," 1804, from medial (adj.) + -ly (2).

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Trends of medial

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

mitten
late 14c., mitain (from mid-13c. in surnames) "a glove, a covering for the hand," especially "a covering for the hand, differing from a glove in not having a separate covering for each finger, the thumb only being separated," from Old French mitaine "mitten, half-glove" (12c.) an
median
"pertaining to or situated in the middle, occupying a middle or intermediate position," 1590s, from French médian (15c.) and directly from Latin medianus "of the middle," from medius "in the middle" (from PIE root *medhyo- "middle"). Originally anatomical, of veins, arteries, ner
thither
The medial -th- developed early 14c. but was rare before early 16c. (compare gather, murder, burden)....
fortress
For change of medial -l- to -r- in Old French, compare orme "elm" from Latin ulmus; chartre from cartula; chapitre from capitulum...
cruel
Latin medial -d- began to disappear 10c. in French: compare chance/cadentia, cheoir/cadere, joyeux/gaudiosus, juif/judaeus...
grave
"to engrave," Old English grafan "to dig, dig up; engrave, carve, chisel" (medial -f- pronounced as "v" in Old English; past...
maiden
Old English mægden, mæden "unmarried woman (usually young); virgin; girl; maidservant," diminutive of mægð, mægeð "virgin, girl; woman, wife," from Proto-Germanic *magadin- "young womanhood, sexually inexperienced female" (source also of Old Saxon magath, Old Frisian maged, Old H
spill
Middle English spillen, from Old English spillan "destroy; destroy the life of, mutilate, kill," especially in a brutal way, also in late Old English "to waste;" a variant of spildan "destroy," from Proto-Germanic *spilthjan (source also of Old High German spildan "to spill," Old
pretend
late 14c., pretenden, "to profess, put forward as a statement or assertion, maintain" (a claim, etc.), "to direct (one's) efforts," from Old French pretendre "to lay claim," from Latin praetendere "stretch in front, spread before, put forward; put forward as an excuse, allege," f

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