We present experimental and theoretical studies of medium infrared absorption by pure water vapor. Measurements have been made in the 1900–2600 cm^-1 and 3900–4600 cm^-1 regions, for temperatures and pressures in the 500–900 K and 0–70 atm ranges, respectively. They are consistent with available data and enable the determination of continuum absorption parameters. It is shown that calculations with line shapes derived from the impact approximation are very inaccurate. Models accounting for the finite durations of collisions and line-mixing through wave-number dependent effective broadening parameters are introduced. The latter have been determined using two different approaches, which are (i) empirical determinations from fits of experimental data and (ii) direct predictions from first principles using a statistical approach. Effective broadening parameters obtained using these two different approaches are in satisfactory agreement for both the temperature and wavenumber dependencies. These data are tested by calculations of continua in various spectral regions and the agreement with measured values is satisfactory. The remaining discrepancies probably result from the influence of the internal structures of the absorption bands considered and thus from the influence of line-mixing. Nevertheless, accurate predictions are obtained in wide temperature and spectral ranges when the total absorption at elevated density is considered. This agreement, which is due to the relatively weak continuum absorption and large contributions of nearby lines, makes the present models suitable for most practical applications involving elevated densities.