pre-median
|pre-med-i-an|
🇺🇸
/priːˈmiːdiən/
🇬🇧
/priːˈmiːdɪən/
before the middle
Etymology
'pre-median' is a modern English compound formed from the prefix 'pre-' (from Latin 'prae', meaning 'before') and 'median' (from Latin 'medianus', from 'medius', meaning 'middle').
The element 'pre-' originates from Latin 'prae' and has long been used in English as a productive prefix meaning 'before'. 'Median' comes from Latin 'medianus' (from 'medius'). The compound 'pre-median' is a relatively recent technical formation in English (20th century onward) combining these elements to express 'before the median' or to name a class in mathematical literature (e.g., 'pre-median graph').
Individually the parts meant 'before' and 'middle'; together the compound now denotes either the literal sense 'before the median' or a specialized technical sense (a class/property in mathematics) that goes beyond the simple literal combination.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
in mathematics and graph theory, a graph or structure described as a 'pre-median' — i.e., one that satisfies certain properties weaker than those of a median graph (often used as shorthand for 'pre-median graph').
The researchers proved that every pre-median in the class has a unique convexity property.
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Adjective 1
occurring or situated before the median; preceding the middle or median point in position, time, or distribution.
The pre-median portion of the distribution contains the lower-ranked observations.
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Last updated: 2026/01/05 19:49