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A.Word.A.Day--via media

via media (VY-uh MEE-dee-uh, VEE-uh MAY-dee-uh) noun

A middle way.

[From Latin, from via (way) + media, feminine of medius (middle).]

This term is used by the Anglican Church to refer to itself, as a middle road between the two extremes of the Roman Catholic Church and evangelical Protestantism.

"The government may reduce the proposed hike in foreign direct investment (FDI) to a via media level of 35-40 per cent." Mahua Venkatesh; Truncated Increase In Insurance FDI On Cards; Financial Express (New Delhi, India); Jul 28, 2004.

"He (Seamus Heaney) has been cast as predominantly a poet of the via media, perhaps partly in contrast to the tormented writings of Lowell, Plath, Anne Sexton, et al." Brian Fallon; Capture of the Glittering Prize Seemed Unavoidable; Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland); Oct 6, 1995.

This week's theme: Latin expressions.

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