The term "medial" refers to something that is situated in the middle or center of a structure. In anatomy, it often describes positions or directions relative to the midline of the body. For example, the medial side of the knee is closer to the body's center than the lateral side. In linguistics, "medial" can describe sounds or syllables that occur in the middle of a word. For instance, in the word "basket," the "sk" sound is considered medial. Understanding the concept of medial helps clarify relationships in both physical and linguistic contexts.