# mainstream

Pronunciation: say "MAYN-streem" /meɪn.stɹiːm/

## Noun

1. The common ideas, tastes, or trends shared by most people; the accepted norm.
   - Simple: The ideas, tastes, or activities that most people share or accept.
   - _Once a fringe belief, the practice has moved firmly into the mainstream._
   - _Independent films rarely reach the mainstream without a major distributor behind them._
5. The principal current in a moving body of water or air, such as a river or wind.
   - Simple: The main, strongest part of a flow of water or air.
   - _The barge stayed in the mainstream where the water ran deepest and fastest._
   - _Warm air rises through the mainstream of the updraft at the storm's core._

## Adjective

2. Accepted or used broadly by most people, rather than by only small groups, markets, or communities.
   - Simple: Accepted or used by most people, not just a small group.
   - _Streaming services are now the mainstream way to watch television._
   - _Ideas once dismissed as radical have entered mainstream political debate._

## Verb

3. To make an idea, product, or practice widely popular and accepted.
   - Simple: To make something popular or accepted by most people.
   - _Television advertising helped mainstream once-niche fitness trends._
   - _Activists worked for years to mainstream the recycling habit._
4. To become widely popular and accepted by the general public.
   - Simple: To become popular and accepted by most people.
   - _Once mocked, the style slowly mainstreamed over a single decade._
   - _Plant-based diets continue to mainstream across the country._
6. To educate a student with disabilities alongside students without disabilities in regular classes. *(US)*
   - Simple: To teach a student with disabilities in the same classes as other students.
   - _The district chose to mainstream children with mild learning disabilities into regular classrooms._
   - _Specialists helped mainstream the student after months of careful preparation._

## Origin

Formed from "main" and "stream," and related to the Icelandic word meginstraumur, meaning "a main current" or "mainstream."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/mainstream (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).