mediate

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To help opposing sides reach an agreement by acting as a neutral go-between.

   Negotiators managed to mediate a ceasefire between the two armies.

2. 2
   verb

   To pass something on or make it happen by acting as the means in between.

   Hormones mediate many of the body's responses to stress.

3. 3
   adj

   Acting through something in between; indirect.

   The disease can spread by mediate contact, such as a shared towel.

The adjective is first attested in the 1440s in Middle English, the verb in 1538; from Middle English mediat(e) (“intermediate; intercessory”), borrowed from Late Latin mediātus, perfect passive participle of mediō (“to divide in the middle; (in Medieval Latin) to be in the middle, be or become between, mediate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from medius (“middle”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).

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