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Definition mean
Etymology 1
From Middle English menen (“to intend; remember; lament; comfort”), from Old English m?nan (“to mean, signify; lament”), from Proto-Germanic *mainijan? (“to mean, think; lament”), from Proto-Indo-European *meyn- (“to think”). Germanic cognates include West Frisian miene (“to deem, think”) (Old Frisian m?na (“signify”)), Dutch menen (“to believe, think, mean”) (Middle Dutch menen (“think, intend”)), German meinen (“to think, mean, believe”), Old Saxon m?nian. Indo-European cognates include Old Irish mían (“wish, desire”) and Polish mieni? (“signify, believe”). Related to moan.
Verb
mean (third-person singular simple present means, present participle meaning, simple past and past participle meant)
- To intend.
- (transitive) To intend, to plan (to do); to have as one's intention. [from 8th c.]
- (intransitive) To have intentions of a given kind. [from 14th c.]
- (transitive, usually in passive) To intend (something) for a given purpose or fate; to predestine. [from 16th c.]
- To convey (a meaning).
- (transitive) To have conviction in (something said or expressed); to be sincere in (what one says). [from 18th c.]
- (transitive) To result in; to bring about. [from 19th c.]
- (transitive) To be important (to). [from 19th c.]
Verb
mean (third-person singular simple present means, present participle meaning, simple past and past participle meaned)
- (Ireland, Britain regional) To lament.
Etymology 2
From Middle English mene, imene, from Old English m?ne, ?em?ne (“common, public, general, universal”), from Proto-Germanic *gamainiz (“common”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“to change, exchange, share”). Cognate with West Frisian mien (“general, universal”), Dutch gemeen (“common, mean”), German gemein (“common, mean, nasty”), Gothic ??????? (gamains, “common, unclean”), Latin comm?nis (“shared, common, general”) (Old Latin comoinem).
Adjective
mean (comparative meaner, superlative meanest)
- (obsolete) Common; general.
- Of a common or low origin, grade, or quality; common; humble.
- Low in quality or degree; inferior; poor; shabby.
- Without dignity of mind; destitute of honour; low-minded; spiritless; base.
- Of little value or account; worthy of little or no regard; contemptible; despicable.
- (chiefly Britain) Ungenerous; stingy; tight-fisted.
- Disobliging; pettily offensive or unaccommodating; small.
- Selfish; acting without consideration of others; unkind.
- Causing or intending to cause intentional harm; bearing ill will towards another; cruel; malicious.
- Powerful; fierce; harsh; damaging.
- Accomplished with great skill; deft; hard to compete with.
- (informal, often childish) Difficult, tricky.
Etymology 3
From Middle English meene, borrowed from Old French meien (French moyen), Late Latin medi?nus (“that is in the middle, middle”), from Latin medius (“middle”). Cognate with mid. For the musical sense, compare the cognate Italian mezzano. Doublet of median and mizzen.
Adjective
mean (not comparable)
- Having the mean (see noun below) as its value.
- (obsolete) Middling; intermediate; moderately good, tolerable.
Noun
mean (plural means)
- (now chiefly in the plural) A method or course of action used to achieve some result. [from 14th c.]
- (obsolete, in the singular) An intermediate step or intermediate steps.
- Something which is intermediate or in the middle; an intermediate value or range of values; a medium. [from 14th c.]
- (music, now historical) The middle part of three-part polyphonic music; now specifically, the alto part in polyphonic music; an alto instrument. [from 15th c.]
- (statistics) The average of a set of values, calculated by summing them together and dividing by the number of terms; the arithmetic mean. [from 15th c.]
- (mathematics) Any function of multiple variables that satisfies certain properties and yields a number representative of its arguments; or, the number so yielded; a measure of central tendency.
- (mathematics) Either of the two numbers in the middle of a conventionally presented proportion, as 2 and 3 in 1:2=3:6.
Results 184 Words with the letters MEAN
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