mean

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“
The repetition of acts which lie in the mean is the cause of the formation of each and every "goodness of character," and for this "rules" can be given.

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Definitions (133)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (38)

  1. transitive verb To be used to convey; denote: "'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things'” (Lewis Carroll).
  2. transitive verb To act as a symbol of; signify or represent: In this poem, the budding flower means youth.
  3. transitive verb To intend to convey or indicate: "No one means all he says, and yet very few say all they mean, for words are slippery and thought is viscous” (Henry Adams).
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Examples (50)

  • "What does that name mean, anyway Strong Dragon/" Jeri scarcely glances at the holo. —  Steele, Allen - [Near-Space 05] - A King of Infinite Space
  • The force of reversing to the mean is at work even during the volatile times like now. —  GuruFocus Updates
  • Reversion to the mean is a concept that government bureaucrats refuse to accept. —  US Market Commentary from Seeking Alpha
  • Another reality forcing director pay toward standardization around the mean is a decrease in the use of stock options, which in the past could cause large payouts. —  BusinessWeek.com --
  • (What the hell does that expression mean, anyway?) —  Wacky Mommy
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mean:   meaning ·  meant ·  means
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (8)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. Middle English menen, from Old English mǣnan, to tell of; see mei-no- in Indo-European roots.
  2. Middle English, from Old English gemǣne, common; see mei-1 in Indo-European roots.
  3. Middle English mene, middle, from Old French meien, from Latin mediānus, from medius; see medhyo- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (5)

  1. from Middle English menen, from Anglo-Saxon mǣnan (also gemǣnan), mean, intend, declare, tell, relate, = Old Saxon mēnian, mean, intend, make known, = OFries. mēna = Dutch meenen = Middle Low German menen, Low German meenen = Old High German meinan, Middle High German G. meinen, mean, intend, signify, think, etc., = Icelandic meina = Swedish mena = Danish mene = Gothic (Moesogothic) *mainjan (not recorded), intend, signify, mean; cf. Old High German meina, thought, minnī, memory, Gothic (Moesogothic) munan, think, intend, mean, akin to Old Bulgarian menja, menite, mean, = Bohemian mneti, think; ult. from √ man (Sanskrit man, etc.), think: see mind, min, mental, mention, etc. Cf. mean.
  2. from Middle English meene, mene, earlier imene, from Anglo-Saxon gemǣne (very rarely and prob. by mere error without the prefix, mǣne) = Old Saxon gimēni = OFries. mēne = Middle Dutch gemene, Dutch gemeen = Middle Low German gemeine, gemēne, gemēn, Low German gemeen = Old High German gimeini, Middle High German gemeine, German gemein = Swedish gemen = Danish gemeen = Gothic (Moesogothic) gamains, common, general; perhaps akin to L. communis, common, general: see common. From this word in the orig. sense ‘common,’ ‘general’ has developed the sense ‘low’ in rank or quality, hence ‘base’ (cf. similar senses of common); but this development has prob. been assisted by the confluence of the word with one orig. distinct, namely, Anglo-Saxon mǣne, false, wicked (mǣne āth, a false oath) (= Old High German Middle High German mein, false, = Icelandic meinn, harmful, etc.), from mān, false, also a noun, falsehood, wickedness, evil: see manswear.
  3. from Middle English meene, mēne, from Old French meicn, moien, French moyen = Provencal meian = Spanish Portuguese mediano = Italian mezzano, mean, from Latin medianus, that is in the middle, middle, from medius, middle: see medium and mid. Cf. median and mizzen, doublets of mean.
  4. from Middle English menen, from Anglo-Saxon mǣnan, lament, moan: see moan, the present English form. The Anglo-Saxon is often identified with mǣnan, mean, but the difference of meaning makes it necessary to treat it as a distinct word.
  5. An aphetic form of demean.
 

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