:: See also: means
English

rank|human|kept|business|383|mean|manner|following|fell

Etymology 1
From OE. mænan, "to mean", "to allude to". Confer Dutch menen, German meinen. Cognate with mind and German Minne, "love".

Verb
en-verb|means|meaning|meant

1. transitive To convey, signify, or indicate.

#: What does this hieroglyph mean?
#: The sky is red this morning—does that mean we're in for a storm?

1. transitive To want or intend to convey.

#: I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean.
#: Say what you mean and mean what you say.

1. transitive To intend; to plan on doing.

#: I didn't mean to knock your tooth out.
#: I mean to go to Baddeck this summer.
#: I meant to take the car in for a smog check, but it slipped my mind.

1. transitive To have conviction in what one says.

#: Does she really mean what she said to him last night?
#: Say what you mean and mean what you say.

1. transitive To have intentions of a some kind.

#: Don't be angry; she meant well.
#: Someone's coming up. He means business.

1. transitive To result in; to bring about.

#: One faltering step means certain death.

Usage notes
In sense 3, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms
(convey, signify, indicate): convey, indicate, signify
(want or intend to convey): imply, mean to say
(intend; plan on doing): intend
(have conviction in what one says): be serious
(have intentions of a some kind):
(result in; bring about): bring about, cause, lead to, result in

Translations
trans-top|convey, signify, indicate
Danish: betyde
Dutch: betekenen, willen zeggen
Esperanto: voli diri, signifi
Finnish: tarkoittaa, merkitä
French: signifier
German: bedeuten
Italian: significare
Japanese: ���� (imi-suru)
trans-mid
Polish: znaczy�
Portuguese: significar
Romanian: a semnifica, indica
Russian: зна�и�� (zná�it'), озна�а�� (ozna�át')
Spanish: significar
Swedish: betyda, innebära
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trans-top|want or intend to convey
Dutch: bedoelen
Esperanto: intenci
French: vouloir dire
German: meinen, beabsichtigen
Italian: voler dire
Japanese: ���� (imi-suru)
trans-mid
Portuguese: querer dizer
Romanian: a vrea s� spun�
Russian: име�� в вид� (im'ét' v vidú)
Spanish: querer decir
Swedish: mena, syfta på
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trans-top|intend; plan on doing
Dutch: willen doen, van plan zijn
Esperanto: intenci
Finnish: aikoa
French: avoir l'intention de
German: beabsichtigen
Italian: volere, avere l'intenzione di
trans-mid
Japanese: ���� (����, ito-suru), ����� (suru-tsumori)
Polish: chcie�
Portuguese: tencionar, ter a intenção de
Romanian: t|ro|vrea, t|ro|avea intenţia, t|ro|gândi|alt=se gândi
Spanish: pretender, intentar
Swedish: tänka
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trans-top|have conviction in what one says
Dutch: menen
German: meinen
Japanese: ���� (imi-suru)
Portuguese: manter uma opinião, falar sério
trans-mid
Romanian: am convingerea
Spanish: decir en serio
Swedish: mena
trans-bottom

trans-top|have intentions of a some kind
Dutch: bedoelen, menen
Esperanto: intenci
trans-mid
Japanese: ���� (����, ito-suru), ����� (suru-tsumori)
Spanish: proponerse
Swedish: mena
trans-bottom

trans-top|result in; bring about
Dutch: betekenen
Esperanto: signifi
German: bedeuten
trans-mid
Japanese: ���� (imi-suru)
Portuguese: significar
Spanish: producir (un resultado)
Swedish: betyda, innebära
trans-bottom

Translations to be checked

checktrans
ttbc|Indonesian: arti|berarti, arti|artinya, maksud|bermaksud, maksud|maksudnya
ttbc|Ido: signifikar
ttbc|Interlingua: voler dicer (1); significar (2); intender, haber le intention de (3); mantener un opinion (4)

Etymology 2
OE. mæne. Confer Dutch gemeen, German gemein, Gothic gamains. Cognate with Latin communis.

Adjective
en-adj|er

1. Causing or intending to cause intentional harm; bearing ill will towards another; cruel; malicious.

#: Watch out for her, she's mean. I said good morning to her, and she punched me in the nose.

1. Miserly; stingy.

#: ''He's so mean. I've never seen him spend so much as five pounds on presents for his children.

1. Selfish; acting without consideration of others; unkind.

#: It was mean to steal the girl's piggy bank, but he just had to get uptown and he had no cash of his own.

1. Powerful; fierce; harsh; damaging.

#: It must have been a mean typhoon that levelled this town.

1. Accomplished with great skill; deft; hard to compete with.

#: Your mother can roll a mean cigarette.
#: He hits a mean backhand.

1. Low in quality; inferior.

Synonyms
(causing or intending to cause intentional harm): cruel, malicious, nasty, spiteful
(acting without consideration of others): selfish, unkind
(powerful): damaging, fierce, harsh, strong
(accomplished with great skill; deft; hard to compete with): deft, skilful (UK), skillful (US), top-notch
(inferior): cheap, grotty (slang), inferior, low-quality, naff (UK slang), rough and ready, shoddy, tacky (informal)

Derived terms
meanie
meanness
meany

Translations
trans-top|causing or intending to cause intentional harm
Dutch: gemeen, gemene, boosaardig, boosaardige
Esperanto: kruela, malafabla
Finnish: ilkeä
German: gemein
Greek: άγ�ιο�
trans-mid
Japanese: ������� (d�ka-shiteiru)
Kurdish: KUchar|�ا�����ار
Portuguese: mau, ruim
Russian: злой (zloj), злобн�й (zlóbnyj)
Spanish: malo m, mala f, malvado m, malvada f, cruel
Swedish: elak
trans-bottom

trans-top|miserly, stingy
trans-mid
Spanish: t|es|mezquino, t|es|tacaño
trans-bottom

trans-top|acting without consideration of others
Dutch: gemeen
Esperanto: kruela, malafabla
German: gemein, böse
Greek: κακ��
Japanese: ����� (iji-ga-warui), ��� (ijiwaru)
trans-mid
Kurdish: KUchar|�ا�����ار
Portuguese: mau, ruim
Russian: подл�й (pódlyj)
Spanish: desconsiderado m, desconsiderada f
Swedish: gemen, usel
trans-bottom

trans-top|powerful; fierce; harsh; damaging
Dutch: gemeen
Greek: άγ�ιο�
trans-mid
Japanese: ��� (yakkai-na)
Spanish: cruel
trans-bottom

trans-top|low in quality; inferior
Dutch: minderwaardig, minderwaardige
Esperanto: malbonkvalita
French: inférieur m, inférieure f
German: mittelmä�ig
trans-mid
Greek: άθλιο�
Italian: inferiore m|f
Japanese: �� (warui)
Spanish: malo m, mala f, inferior
trans-bottom

trans-top|accomplished with great skill; deft; hard to compete with
Spanish: formidable
trans-mid
trans-bottom

Translations to be checked
<!--Remove this section once all of the translations below have been moved into the tables above.-->
checktrans
ttbc|Chinese: ��
ttbc|Indonesian: buruk hati, kikir, marah|pemarah, rata-rata
ttbc|Interlingua: mal#Interlingua|mal, perverse#Interlingua|perverse, contemptibile (1); inferior#Interlingua|inferior (2); insuperabile#Interlingua|insuperabile, superior#Interlingua|superior (3)

Etymology 3
From OF. meien (French moyen), Late Latin medianus, from medius. Cognate with "mid".

Adjective
en-adj|-

1. Having the mean (see noun below) as its value.

#: mean distance
#: mean time
#: mean solar time
#: mean sun

Translations
trans-top|having the mean as its value
Dutch: gemiddeld, gemiddelde
Esperanto: meza
Finnish: keski-
French: moyen
German: Mittel-
Greek: μέ�ο� m, μέ�η f, μέ�ο n
trans-mid
Interlingua: medie
Italian: medio
Portuguese: médio
Russian: ��едний (sr'édnij)
Japanese: 平�� (h�kin-no), 平��� (h�kinteki-na)
Spanish: medio
Swedish: genomsnittlig, medel-
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Noun
wikipedia
en-noun

1. mathematics Any function of multiple variables that satisfies certain properties and yields a number representative of its arguments.
2. context|mathematics|more|_|specifically The arithmetic mean.
3. mathematics Either of the two numbers in the middle of a proportion, as 2 and 3 in 1:2=3:6.
4. Commonly, an intermediate value.

See also
average
extreme
median
mode

Derived terms
top2
arithmetic mean
Cesàro mean
Chisini mean
contraharmonic mean
generalised f-mean|generalised f-mean
generalized f-mean|generalized f-mean
geometric mean
harmonic mean
mid2
Heronian mean
Hölder mean
logarithmic mean
power mean
quadratic mean
quasi-arithmetic mean
root mean square
bottom2

Translations
trans-top|arithmetic mean
Czech: aritmetický prům�r m
Spanish: media
trans-mid
trans-bottom

trans-top|the statistical value
Greek: μέ�ο� ��ο� (mésos óros) m
trans-mid
trans-bottom

trans-top|intermediate value
Dutch: gemiddelde n
Finnish: keskiarvo
French: moyenne f
German: Mittel n
Indonesian: rata-rata
Interlingua: media
trans-mid
Italian: media f
Japanese: 平� (����, h�kin), 平�� (�����, h�kinchi)
Portuguese: média f
Romanian: mijloc, mediu, medie
Spanish: media f
Swedish: genomsnitt n, medelvärde n
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Anagrams
amen
name
mane
NEMA

Category:English irregular verbs
Category:English words with multiple etymologies

el:mean
fa:mean
fr:mean
gl:mean
io:mean
it:mean
hu:mean
ja:mean
pl:mean
pt:mean
ru:mean
simple:mean
fi:mean
sv:mean
ta:mean
te:mean
vi:mean
tr:mean
uk:mean
zh:mean

• 2007-12-27 23:21 - DCDuring - /* Synonyms */ sp

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