Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The region in mammals between the pleural sacs, containing the heart and all of the thoracic viscera except the lungs.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In anatomy, a median septum or partition between two parts of an organ, or between two paired cavities of the body; especially, the membranous partition separating the right and left thoracic cavities, formed of the two inner pleural walls.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun anatomy The region in mammals between the pleural sacs, containing the heart and all of the thoracic viscera except the lungs.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the part of the thoracic cavity between the lungs that contains the heart and aorta and esophagus and trachea and thymus

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin mediastīnum, from neuter of Medieval Latin mediastīnus, medial, middle, from Latin, servant employed on general tasks (Medieval Latin anatomical sense probably influenced by Latin intestīnum, intestine), from medius, middle; see medhyo- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • SATCHER: Well, the spores get into the lungs and they end up in the lymph nodes, in the chest, what we call the mediastinum (ph).

    CNN Transcript Oct 31, 2001 2001

  • The adjacent sides of the two pleural sacs are central to the thorax, and form that space which is called mediastinum; the heart is located in this mediastinum, U E, Plate 1.

    Surgical Anatomy Joseph Maclise

  • It is applied to the tunica vasculosa over the glandular substance of the testis, and, at its posterior border, is reflected into the interior of the gland, forming an incomplete vertical septum, called the mediastinum testis (corpus Highmori).

    XI. Splanchnology. 3c. The Male Genital Organs 1918

  • Schwannoma originating from the vagus nerve within the mediastinum is a rare, usually benign tumor.

    BioMed Central - Latest articles Kyriakos Rammos 2009

  • Harvey Cushing, another star apprentice, even “cleaned out the anterior mediastinum,” the deep lymph nodes buried inside the chest.

    The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee 2010

  • Harvey Cushing, another star apprentice, even “cleaned out the anterior mediastinum,” the deep lymph nodes buried inside the chest.

    The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee 2010

  • Harvey Cushing, another star apprentice, even “cleaned out the anterior mediastinum,” the deep lymph nodes buried inside the chest.

    The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee 2010

  • One of the neatest evidences I see of God in Creation is the bison...with an incompletely divided mediastinum.

    Archive 2008-07-01 LuLu 2008

  • The mediastinum, all the stuff, and they go, oh, this isn't good, we can't treat for a heart attack.

    CNN Transcript Mar 21, 2008 2008

  • The mediastinum, all the stuff, and they go, oh, this isn't good, we can't treat for a heart attack.

    CNN Transcript Mar 22, 2008 2008

Comments

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  • heart space

    January 4, 2010

  • "She knelt by his head and did as I told her, and the mediastinum of the trachea bulged into view as the skin and fascia over it tightened."

    —Diana Gabaldon, The Fiery Cross (NY: Bantam Dell, 2001), 920

    January 26, 2010

  • Is the space between the lungs. It contains the heart, epsophagus'trachea, great blood vessels and other structures

    February 23, 2010