| word | median |
|---|---|
| definition | In the middle; especially, having a value that is in the middle of a series of values arranged from smallest to largest. |
| eg_sentence | 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. |
| explanation | 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 |
| IPA | ˈmidiən |
Tags: mwvb::unit:28, mwvb::unit:28:word, mwvb::word, mwvb::word-cloze, mwvb::word-reverse, obsidian_to_anki
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