verb

mediate

MEE-dee-ayt/ˈmiːdieɪt/

To act as a connecting agent between separate parties or processes.

A woman mediates between two tense neighbors at a table.

A Black woman mediator helping two tense neighbors shake hands across a table, fair balanced attention.

Etymology

mediateLatinto halve; to be in the middle

Latin mediare meant 'to halve' and later 'to be in the middle.' The reconciliation sense makes that middle position an intervention between opponents; it may have arisen by back-formation from mediation or mediator.

In context

Carnegie Explains6:18

mediate the Russian resolution and to oppose it basically and water it down and and we succeeded in doing that it became after our negotiation a very benign um resolution and we joined consensus on that

Cyber Norms Revisited: International Cybersecurity and the Way Forward

More examples

The counselor mediates disputes between students.
Both sides ask a neutral volunteer to mediate.
Hormones mediate communication between different organs.

Forms

mediate · mediates · mediated · mediating

mediator noun — Someone who helps opposing parties reach agreement.

mediation noun — Intervention that helps opposing parties reach agreement.

Similar words

intervene: Means stepping into a situation, not necessarily connecting parties.
arbitrate: Means deciding a dispute rather than helping parties agree.
transmit: Emphasizes passing something along rather than acting as an intermediary.