medel

mẹ̄dəł

1. masculine singular l-participle of mesti

Known from Old Swedish midhel, middel, medhel, from Middle Low German middel, from Old Saxon middil, from Proto-Germanic *midlą.

Same as German Mittel and English middle. The stand-alone adjective is archaic, but lives on as the superlative medelst, as a prefix medel- and many related words, e.g. emellertid.

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medel n

1. a means (to an end)

   Ändamålet helgar medlen

   The end justifies the means

   Han skyr inga medel

   He will stop at nothing ("shuns no means")

   Monstren måste bekämpas med alla tillgängliga medel

   The monsters must be fought with all available means

2. an agent (substance used for a specific purpose)

   diskmedel

   dish soap, washing-up liquid ("diska (“do the dishes”) agent")

   tvättmedel

   detergent ("wash agent")

   laxermedel

   laxative ("purge agent")

   läkemedel

   medicine/drug ("heal agent")

   sötningsmedel

   sweetener ("sweetening agent")

   ett farligt medel som Livsmedelsverket har satt en användningsgräns för

   a dangerous agent for which the National Food Administration has set a usage limit

3. money, capital, funding

   med egna medel

   with one's own money, by one's own means

   Ska du söka medel för din forskning?

   Will you apply for funding for your research?

4. a mean, an average, a centre, a middle

   att beräkna ett medelvärde

   to calculate a mean/average

   medelklass

   middle class

• medel in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• medel in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• medel in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)