mean

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, General Australian, New Zealand) enPR: mēn, IPA(key): /miːn/ (Local Dublin) IPA(key): /miːn/, /mijən/ (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /min/ Rhymes: -iːn Homophones: mene, mien, mesne === Etymology 1 === From Middle English menen (“to intend; remember; lament; comfort”), from Old English mǣnan (“to mean, complain”), Proto-West Germanic *mainijan, from Proto-Germanic *mainijaną (“to mean, think; complain”), from Proto-Indo-European *meyn- (“to think”), or perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *meyno-, extended form of Proto-Indo-European *mey-. Germanic cognates include West Frisian miene (“to deem, think”) (Old Frisian mēna (“to signify”)), Dutch menen (“to believe, think, mean”) (Middle Dutch menen (“to think, intend”)), German meinen (“to think, mean, believe”), Old Saxon mēnian. Indo-European cognates include Old Irish mían (“wish, desire”) and Polish mienić (“to signify, believe”). Non-Indo-European cognates include Finnish mainita (“to mention”), Finnish meinata (“to mean, to plan, to intend”) Estonian mainima (“to mention”), Northern Sami máinnastit (“to tell”). 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.] Synonym: intend (intransitive) To have as 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.] (transitive) To intend an ensuing comment or statement as an explanation. To convey (a meaning). (transitive) To convey (a given sense); to signify, or indicate (an object or idea). [from 8th c.] Synonyms: convey, indicate, signify (transitive) Of a word, symbol etc: to have reference to, to signify. [from 8th c.] (transitive) Of a person (or animal etc): to intend to express, to imply, to hint at, to allude. Synonyms: hint, imply Synonym: get at (transitive) To have conviction in (something said or expressed); to be sincere in (what one says). [from 18th c.] (transitive) To cause or produce (a given result); to bring about (a given result). [from 19th c.] Synonyms: bring about, cause, lead to, result in (usually with to) To be of some level of importance. (Ireland, UK regional) To lament. Synonyms: grieve, mourn; see also Thesaurus:lament ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === From Middle English mene, imene, from Old English mǣne, ġemǣne (“common, public, general, universal”), from Proto-West Germanic *gamainī, from Proto-Germanic *gamainiz (“common”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“to change, exchange, share”). Doublet of common. Cognate with West Frisian mien (“general, universal”), Dutch gemeen (“common, mean”), German gemein (“common, mean, nasty”), Danish gemen, Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (gamains, “common, unclean”), Latin commūnis (“shared, common, general”) (Old Latin comoinem). For a similar change in definition, see vulgar. ==== Adjective ==== mean (comparative meaner, superlative meanest) (obsolete) Common; general. (now rare) Of a common or low origin, grade, or quality; common; humble. Low in quality or degree; inferior; poor; shabby. Synonyms: cheap, grotty; see also Thesaurus:low-quality Without dignity of mind; destitute of honour; low-minded; spiritless; base. Synonyms: base, ignoble, selfish, unkind, vile Antonyms: lofty, noble, honorable Of little value or worth; worthy of little or no regard; contemptible; despicable. (chiefly UK) Ungenerous; stingy; tight-fisted. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:stingy Disobliging; pettily offensive or unaccommodating. Intending to cause harm, successfully or otherwise; bearing ill will towards another. Synonyms: cruel, malicious, nasty, wicked Powerful; fierce; strong. Synonyms: harsh, damaging, fierce (colloquial) Hearty; spicy. (colloquial) Accomplished with great skill; deft; hard to compete with. Synonyms: deft, skillful, top-notch (informal, often childish) Difficult, tricky. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 3 === From Middle English meene, borrowed from Old French meien (French moyen), Late Latin mediānus (“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. ==== Alternative forms ==== (obsolete) myn ==== Adjective ==== mean (not comparable) Having the mean as its value; average. (obsolete) Middling; intermediate; moderately good, tolerable. , II.ii.2: I have declared in the causes what harm costiveness hath done in procuring this disease; if it be so noxious, the opposite must needs be good, or mean at least, as indeed it is […]. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Noun ==== mean (plural means) (now chiefly in the plural form means, also in a singular sense) A method or course of action used to achieve some result. [from 14th c.] (obsolete, in the singular) An intermediate step or intermediate steps. a. 1563, Thomas Harding, "To the Reader", in The Works of John Jewel (1845 ed.) Verily in this treatise this hath been mine only purpose; and the mean to bring the same to effect hath been such as whereby I studied to profit wholesomely, not to please delicately. a. 1623, John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi Apply desperate physic: / We must not now use balsamum, but fire, / The smarting cupping-glass, for that's the mean / To purge infected blood, such blood as hers. Something which is intermediate or in the middle; an intermediate value or range of values; a medium. [from 14th c.] 1875, William Smith and Samuel Cheetham, editors, A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, Little, Brown and Company, volume 1, page 10, s.v. Accentus Ecclesiasticus, It presents a sort of mean between speech and song, continually inclining towards the latter, never altogether leaving its hold on the former; it is speech, though always attuned speech, in passages of average interest and importance; it is song, though always distinct and articulate song, in passages demanding more fervid utterance. (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.] (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. Hypernym: average (broad sense) Hyponyms: arithmetic mean, average (narrow sense), geometric mean, harmonic mean, quadratic mean, weighted mean Coordinate terms: median, mode 1997, Angus Deaton, The Analysis of Household Surveys: A Microeconometric Approach to Development Policy,[11] World Bank Publications, →ISBN, page 51: Note that (1.41) is simply the probability-weighted mean without any explicit allowance for the stratification; each observation is weighted by its inflation factor and the total divided by the total of the inflation factors for the survey. (statistics) The average of a set of values, calculated by summing them together and dividing by the number of terms.[from 15th c.] Synonyms: arithmetic mean, average (narrow sense) Hypernym: average (broad sense) Coordinate terms: geometric mean, harmonic mean, quadratic mean, weighted mean; median; mode (mathematics) Either of the two numbers in the middle of a conventionally presented proportion, as 2 and 3 in 1:2=3:6. Synonyms: geometric mean, mean proportional ===== Hypernyms ===== (statistics): measure of central tendency, measure of location, sample statistic ===== Coordinate terms ===== (statistics): median, mode ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ===== See also ===== (statistics): spread, range === Further reading === “mean”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “mean”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. === Anagrams === -mane, -nema, Amen, Eman, Enma, MENA, Mena, NAmE, NEMA, NMEA, amen, mane, mnae, name, namé, neam, ñame == Chinese == === Etymology === From English mean. === Pronunciation === === Adjective === mean (Hong Kong Cantonese) mean (unkind; offensive) === Verb === mean (Hong Kong Cantonese) to be mean towards someone == Manx == === Etymology === From Old Irish medón (“middle, centre”), from Latin mediānus. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /meːn/ === Noun === mean m (plural [please provide]) centre, middle Share çhyndaa cabbil ayns mean ny h-aah na goll er vaih. ― Better to change horses in mid ford than to drown. interior Tar stiagh ayns mean y killagh. ― Come into the body of the church. average Trogmayd mean. ― We will strike an average. ==== Derived terms ==== meanagh (“center, central; intermediate; centric, centrical”, adjective) mean scoill (“secondary school, college”) === Mutation === == Scottish Gaelic == === Etymology === From Old Irish menbach (“small”), from a Proto-Celtic derivation of the root *mey- (“small, little”). Cognate with Latin minus, minor, minutus and Ancient Greek μινύθω (minúthō, “lessen”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /mɛn/ === Adjective === mean little, tiny ==== Synonyms ==== beag bìodach meanbh mion ==== Derived terms ==== mean air mhean === Mutation === == Spanish == === Verb === mean third-person plural present indicative of mear == Tetum == === Etymology === From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(ma-)iʀaq, compare Malay merah. === Adjective === mean red === References === “mean”, in Dicionário infopédia: Tetum-English, Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026