media

I. noun (plural mediae) Date: 1841 1. [Late Latin, from Latin, feminine of medius; from the voiced stops' being regarded as intermediate between the tenues and the aspirates] a voiced stop 2. [New Latin, from Latin] the middle coat of the wall of a blood or lymph vessel consisting chiefly of circular muscle fibers II. noun (plural medias) Usage: often attributive Etymology: plural of medium Date: 1923 1. a medium of cultivation, conveyance, or expression; especially medium 2b 2. a. singular or plural in construction mass media b. plural members of the mass media Usage: The singular media and its plural medias seem to have originated in the field of advertising over 70 years ago; they are apparently still so used without stigma in that specialized field. In most other applications media is used as a plural of medium. The great popularity of the word in references to the agencies of mass communication is leading to the formation of a mass noun, construed as a singular <

there's no basis for it. You know, the news media gets on to something — Edwin Meese 3d

> <

the media is less interested in the party's policies — James Lewis, Guardian Weekly

>. This use is not as well established as the mass-noun use of data and is likely to incur criticism especially in writing.