Today's WOTD is: "medio" = middle
1. In
Spanish, “medio”
is a masculine noun of Latin origin which means middle.
2. The plural form of the noun, “medios” is commonly used to refer to:
- Means/ resources (see expressions and examples below);
- Sphere/ field/ circles (see expressions and examples below);
3. The
Spanish word “medio”may
also be used in sports, especially in football/ soccer, to refer to a midfield
player.
4. In
Spanish, “medio” may also be used as a masculine
describing word/ adjective, with “media”* being its
feminine form. The main meaning of “medio”/ “media” is half.
5. Some expressions with the words “medio”/ “media” are:
- A media mañana (in mid morning);
- A media tarde (in mid afternoon);
- A medianoche (at midnight);
- A medias ('fifty-fifty');
- A medias (half done... or perfunctorily completed);
- A medio camino (half way there);
- A medio plazo (in the medium term);
- A medio hacer* (half done);
- Ciudadano medio** (average citizen/ person);
- Clase media (middle class);
- Corto de medios (short on resources/ money/ etc.);
- Dar(se) media vuelta (to turn on one's heels);
- De por medio (in the middle/ in the way);
- En medio de (in the middle of);
- En medios (in the sphere of/ in the field of);
- Hora y media (an hour and a half);
- Media águila (gold Mexican coin);
- Media hora (half an hour);
- Media luna (half moon/ crescent);
- Media Luna Roja (Red Crescent);
- Media manzana (half an apple);
- Media naranja (half an orange... but Mr Right/ ideal woman);
- Medianoche (midnight);
- Media pensión (half board);
- Media vuelta (about-turn/ about-face);
- Medio ambiente (the environment);
- Medio campo (midfield);
- Medio de comunicación (a media channel- newspaper/ radio/ TV station);
- Medio fondo (middle distance/ middle distance runner);
- Medio hecho* (half done);
- Medio kilo (half a kilo);
- Medio litro (half a litre);
- Medio mundo*** (lots of people/ almost everybody);
- Medios de comunicación (the media);
- Por medio de (by means of/ through);
- Quitar de en medio (to remove... usually an obstacle);
- Quitarse de en medio (to move out of the way);
- Temperatura media (average temperature);
- Y media (half past the hour- in time expressions)
*NB
This expression is also often used with the verb “hacer”
being replaced by other verbs. for example, “vestir”.
**NB
This expression is also often used with the word “ciudadano”
being replaced by the name of a specific nationality/ etc. for
example, “el español medio”, the average Spaniard.
***NB
This expression is also often used with the word “mundo”
being replaced by the name of a specific country/ region/ city/ etc.,
for example, “medio Madrid”.
6 .Some examples of the use of the word "medio" are:
- Salimos de casa a media mañana (we left the house in mid morning);
- Salimos de casa a media tarde (we left the house in mid afternoon);
- Salimos de casa a medianoche (we left the house at midnight);
- ¿Vamos a medias? (shall we go 'fifty-fifty'?);
- Los deberes han quedado a medias (the homework is half done);
- Nos quedamos a medio camino (we stopped half way there);
- A medio plazo, la solución es fácil (there is an easy medium term solution);
- Estoy a medio vestir (I am half naked/ half dressed);
- Estoy medio vestido (I am half naked/ half dressed)
- El ciudadano medio se interesa por la seguridad (the average citizen is concerned about security);
- Esa es una familia de clase media (that is a middle class family);
- Nos encontramos muy cortos de medios (we are very low on funds/ short of money);
- Pedro se dio media vuelta y se fue (Pedro turned on his heels and left);
- No podemos hacerlo, tenemos muchos problemas de por medio (we can't do it, we have lots of problems in the/ our way);
- Estamos en medio de la calle (we are in the middle of the road);
- En medios políticos se habla mucho de ese tema (that is the topic of conversation in political circles/ the sphere of politics/ the field of politics);
- Tenemos previsto llegar dentro de hora y media (we expect to arrive in one and a half hours time);
- Tenemos previsto llegar dentro de media hora (we expect to arrive in half an hour);
- Algunos paises usan la media luna como símbolo en sus banderas (the crescent moon is used as a symbol in some countries' flags);
- El Movimiento de la Cruz Roja y la Media Luna Roja realiza una labor humanitaria (the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement performs humanitarian duities);
- Sólo pude comerme media manzana (I could only eat half an apple);
- Ann ha encontrado su media naranja (Ann has found her Mr. Right);
- Estamos alojados en régimen de media pensión (we are staying on a half board package);
- ¡Media vuelta, ar*! (about-turn!/ about-face!- military commands);
- Debemos cuidar el medio ambiente (we ought to look after the environment);
- Ese es un buen jugador de medio campo (that is a good midfield player);
- El presidente concedió una entrevista a un medio de comunicación español (the president gave an interview to a Spanish paper/ TV channel/ etc.);
- Todos los medios de comunicación se hicieron eco de esa noticia (that news item appeared in al the media);
- El rey del medio fondo dice adios al atletismo (the king of middledistance running says goodbye to athletics);
- Medio kilo de azúcar (half a kilo of sugar);
- Medio litro de leche (half a kilo of milk);
- Eso lo sabe medio mundo (almost everybody knows that);
- Lo conseguimos por medio de un amigo (we got it through a friend);
- Hay que quitar las sillas de en medio (the chairs need to be moved out of the way);
- Me quito de en medio para no molestar (I move out of the way in order not to disturb);
- Veinticinco grados es la temperatura media (25 degrees is the average temperature);
- Es la una y media (it is half past one);
- Son las cuatro y media (it is half past four);
- ¿Quedamos a la una y media? (shall we meet at half past one);
- ¿Quedamos a las cuatro y media? (shall we meet at half past four);
*NB
In some parts, the command in Spanish is: “¡Media vuelta, ya!”
For
more on the word "medio",
visit: Wordreference.com/es/ Medio
*NB
'Click' on the speaker icon next to the word “medio”
in the link to hear the word pronounced.
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