mean

mean ¹  (mn)

v. meant (mnt), mean·ing, means

v.tr.

1.

a. To be used to convey; denote: "'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things'" Lewis Carroll.

b. To act as a symbol of; signify or represent: In this poem, the budding flower means youth.

2. 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.

3. To have as a purpose or an intention; intend: I meant to go running this morning, but I overslept.

4. To design, intend, or destine for a certain purpose or end: a building that was meant for storage; a student who was meant to be a scientist.

5. To have as a consequence; bring about: Friction means heat.

6. To have the importance or value of: The opinions of the critics meant nothing to him. She meant so much to me.

v.intr.

To have intentions of a specified kind; be disposed: They mean well but lack tact.

Idiom:

mean business Informal

To be in earnest.

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[Middle English menen, from Old English mnan, to tell of; see mei-no- in Indo-European roots.]

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mean ²  (mn)

adj. mean·er, mean·est

1.

a. Selfish in a petty way; unkind.

b. Cruel, spiteful, or malicious.

2. Ignoble; base: a mean motive.

3. Miserly; stingy.

4.

a. Low in quality or grade; inferior.

b. Low in value or amount; paltry: paid no mean amount for the new shoes.

5. Common or poor in appearance; shabby: "The rowhouses had been darkened by the rain and looked meaner and grimmer than ever" Anne Tyler.

6. Low in social status; of humble origins.

7. Humiliated or ashamed.

8. In poor physical condition; sick or debilitated.

9. Extremely unpleasant or disagreeable: The meanest storm in years.

10. Informal Ill-tempered.

11. Slang

a. Hard to cope with; difficult or troublesome: He throws a mean fast ball.

b. Excellent; skillful: She plays a mean game of bridge.

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[Middle English, from Old English gemne, common; see mei-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

Synonyms: mean², low¹, base², abject, ignoble, sordid
These adjectives mean lacking in dignity or falling short of the standards befitting humans. Mean suggests pettiness, spite, or niggardliness: "Never ascribe to an opponent motives meaner than your own" J.M. Barrie.
Something low violates standards of morality, ethics, or propriety: low cunning; a low trick.
Base suggests a contemptible, mean-spirited, or selfish lack of human decency: "that liberal obedience, without which your army would be a base rabble" Edmund Burke.
Abject means brought low in condition: abject submission; abject poverty.
Ignoble means lacking noble qualities, such as elevated moral character: "For my part I think it a less evil that some criminals should escape than that the government should play an ignoble part" Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Sordid suggests foul, repulsive degradation: "It is through art . . . that we can shield ourselves from the sordid perils of actual existence" Oscar Wilde.

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mean ¹

Verb

[meaning, meant]

1. to intend to convey or express: what do you mean by that?

2. to denote, represent, or signify: a red light means `stop!', `gravid' is a technical term meaning `pregnant'

3. to intend: I meant to phone you earlier, but didn't have time

4. to say or do in all seriousness: the boss means what she says

5. to have the importance specified: music means everything to him

6. to destine or design for a certain person or purpose: those sweets weren't meant for you

7. to produce, cause, or result in: major road works will mean long traffic delays

8. to foretell: those black clouds mean rain

9. mean well to have good intentions [Old English mǣnan]

USAGE: In standard English mean should not be followed by for when expressing intention: I didn't mean this to happen (not I didn't mean for this to happen).

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mean ²

Adjective

1. not willing to give or use much of something, esp. money: she was noticeably mean, don't be mean with the butter

2. unkind or spiteful: a mean trick

3. Informal ashamed: she felt mean about not letting the children stay out late

4. Informal, chiefly US, Canad & Austral bad-tempered or vicious

5. shabby and poor: a mean little room

6. Slang excellent or skilful: he plays a mean trumpet

7. no mean

a. of high quality: no mean player

b. difficult: no mean feat [Old English gemǣne common]

meanly adv
meanness n

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mean ³

Noun

1. the middle point, state, or course between limits or extremes

2. Maths

a. the mid-point between the highest and lowest number in a set

b. the average

Adjective

1. intermediate in size or quantity

2. occurring halfway between extremes or limits; average [Late Latin medianus median]

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mean  (mn)

1. A number or quantity having a value that is intermediate between other numbers or quantities, especially an arithmetic mean or average. See more at arithmetic mean.

2. Either the second or third term of a proportion of four terms. In the proportion ²/₃ = ⁴/₆ , the means are 3 and 4. Compare extreme.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	mean - an average of n numbers computed by adding some function of the numbers and dividing by some function of n mean value statistics - a branch of applied mathematics concerned with the collection and interpretation of quantitative data and the use of probability theory to estimate population parameters average, norm - a statistic describing the location of a distribution; "it set the norm for American homes" arithmetic mean, expected value, first moment, expectation - the sum of the values of a random variable divided by the number of values geometric mean - the mean of n numbers expressed as the n-th root of their product harmonic mean - the mean of n numbers expressed as the reciprocal of the arithmetic mean of the reciprocals of the numbers
Verb	1.	mean - mean or intend to express or convey; "You never understand what I mean!"; "what do his words intend?" intend stand for, symbolize, typify, symbolise, represent - express indirectly by an image, form, or model; be a symbol; "What does the Statue of Liberty symbolize?" convey - make known; pass on, of information; "She conveyed the message to me" signify - convey or express a meaning; "These words mean nothing to me!"; "What does his strange behavior signify?" spell, import - indicate or signify; "I'm afraid this spells trouble!" aim - direct (a remark) toward an intended goal; "She wanted to aim a pun" aim, drive, get - move into a desired direction of discourse; "What are you driving at?"
	2.	mean - have as a logical consequence; "The water shortage means that we have to stop taking long showers" entail, imply necessitate - cause to be a concomitant
	3.	mean - denote or connote; "`maison' means `house' in French"; "An example sentence would show what this word means" signify, stand for, intend denote, refer - have as a meaning; "`multi-' denotes `many' " signify - convey or express a meaning; "These words mean nothing to me!"; "What does his strange behavior signify?"
	4.	mean - have in mind as a purpose; "I mean no harm"; "I only meant to help you"; "She didn't think to harm me"; "We thought to return early that night" intend, think design - intend or have as a purpose; "She designed to go far in the world of business" be after, plan - have the will and intention to carry out some action; "He plans to be in graduate school next year"; "The rebels had planned turmoil and confusion" purpose, purport, aim, propose - propose or intend; "I aim to arrive at noon"
	5.	mean - have a specified degree of importance; "My ex-husband means nothing to me"; "Happiness means everything"
	6.	mean - intend to refer to; "I'm thinking of good food when I talk about France"; "Yes, I meant you when I complained about people who gossip!" have in mind, think of associate, colligate, link, relate, tie in, connect, link up - make a logical or causal connection; "I cannot connect these two pieces of evidence in my mind"; "colligate these facts"; "I cannot relate these events at all" cite, mention, refer, advert, name, bring up - make reference to; "His name was mentioned in connection with the invention"
	7.	mean - destine or designate for a certain purpose; "These flowers were meant for you" destine, intend, designate, specify - design or destine; "She was intended to become the director"
Adj.	1.	mean - approximating the statistical norm or average or expected value; "the average income in New England is below that of the nation"; "of average height for his age"; "the mean annual rainfall" average statistics - a branch of applied mathematics concerned with the collection and interpretation of quantitative data and the use of probability theory to estimate population parameters normal - conforming with or constituting a norm or standard or level or type or social norm; not abnormal; "serve wine at normal room temperature"; "normal diplomatic relations"; "normal working hours"; "normal word order"; "normal curiosity"; "the normal course of events"
	2.	mean - characterized by malice; "a hateful thing to do"; "in a mean mood" hateful nasty, awful - offensive or even (of persons) malicious; "in a nasty mood"; "a nasty accident"; "a nasty shock"; "a nasty smell"; "a nasty trick to pull"; "Will he say nasty things at my funeral?"- Ezra Pound
	3.	mean - having or showing an ignoble lack of honor or morality; "that liberal obedience without which your army would be a base rabble"- Edmund Burke; "taking a mean advantage"; "chok'd with ambition of the meaner sort"- Shakespeare; "something essentially vulgar and meanspirited in politics" meanspirited, base ignoble - completely lacking nobility in character or quality or purpose; "something cowardly and ignoble in his attitude"; "I think it a less evil that some criminals should escape than that the government should play an ignoble part"- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
	4.	mean - excellent; "famous for a mean backhand" jargon, lingo, patois, argot, vernacular, slang, cant - a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves); "they don't speak our lingo" skilled - having or showing or requiring special skill; "only the most skilled gymnasts make an Olympic team"; "a skilled surgeon has many years of training and experience"; "a skilled reconstruction of her damaged elbow"; "a skilled trade"
	5.	mean - marked by poverty befitting a beggar; "a beggarly existence in the slums"; "a mean hut" beggarly poor - characterized by or indicating poverty; "the country had a poor economy"; "they lived in the poor section of town"
	6.	mean - (used of persons or behavior) characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity; "a mean person"; "he left a miserly tip" mingy, miserly, tight stingy, ungenerous - unwilling to spend; "she practices economy without being stingy"; "an ungenerous response to the appeal for funds"
	7.	mean - (used of sums of money) so small in amount as to deserve contempt beggarly stingy, ungenerous - unwilling to spend; "she practices economy without being stingy"; "an ungenerous response to the appeal for funds"
	8.	mean - of no value or worth; "I was caught in the bastardly traffic" bastardly contemptible - deserving of contempt or scorn

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mean ¹

verb 1. signify, say, suggest, indicate, represent, express, stand for, convey, spell out, purport, symbolize, denote, connote, betoken

verb 2. imply, suggest, intend, indicate, refer to, intimate, get at (informal) hint at, have in mind, drive at (informal) allude to, insinuate

verb 3. presage, promise, herald, foreshadow, augur, foretell, portend, betoken, adumbrate

verb 4. result in, cause, produce, effect, lead to, involve, bring about, give rise to, entail, engender, necessitate

verb 5. intend, want, plan, expect, design, aim, wish, think, propose, purpose, desire, set out, contemplate, aspire, have plans, have in mind

verb 6. destine, make, design, suit, fate, predestine, preordain

USAGE In standard British English, mean should not be followed by for when expressing intention. I didn't mean this to happen is acceptable, but not I didn't mean for this to happen.

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mean ²

adjective 1. miserly, stingy, parsimonious, niggardly, close (informal) near (informal) tight, selfish, beggarly, mercenary, skimpy, penny-pinching, ungenerous, penurious, tight-fisted, mingy Brit. (informal) snoep S. African (informal) << OPPOSITE generous

adjective 2. dishonourable, base, petty, degraded, disgraceful, shameful, shabby, vile, degenerate, callous, sordid, abject, despicable, narrow-minded, contemptible, wretched, scurvy, ignoble, hard-hearted, scungy Austral., N.Z. low-minded << OPPOSITE honourable

adjective 3. (Informal) malicious, hostile, nasty, sour, unpleasant, rude, unfriendly, bad-tempered, disagreeable, churlish, ill-tempered, cantankerous << OPPOSITE kind

adjective 4. shabby, poor, miserable, rundown, beggarly, seedy, scruffy, sordid, paltry, squalid, tawdry, low-rent (informal), chiefly U.S. contemptible, wretched, down-at-heel, grungy (slang), chiefly U.S. scuzzy (slang), chiefly U.S. << OPPOSITE superb

adjective 5. lowly, low, common, ordinary, modest, base, obscure, humble, inferior, vulgar, menial, proletarian, undistinguished, servile, ignoble, plebeian, lowborn, baseborn (archaic) << OPPOSITE noble

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mean ³

noun 1. average, middle, balance, norm, median, midpoint

adjective 2. average, middle, middling, standard, medium, normal, intermediate, median, medial

Translations

mean [miːn] adj (with money) → tacaño (= unkind); mezquino, malo;

(average) → medio;

(US) (= vicious) [animal] → resabiado: [person] → malicioso

vt [pt, pp meant] [mɛnt] (= signify) → querer decir, significar (= intend): to mean to do sth → tener la intención de or pensar hacer algo

n → medio, término medio;

do you mean it? → ¿lo dices en serio?;

what do you mean? → ¿qué quiere decir?;

to be meant for sb/sth → ser para algn/algo see also means

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mean [miːn] adj (with money) → avare, radin(e) (= unkind); mesquin(e) → méchant(e) (= shabby); misérable;

(US) (inf) [animal] → méchant, vicieux/euse: [person] → vache (= average); moyen(ne)

vt [meant , pt , pp ] [mɛnt] (= signify) → signifier, vouloir dire (= refer to); faire allusion à, parler de (= intend);

to mean to do → avoir l'intention de faire n → moyenne f;

means npl (= way, money) → moyens mpl;

by means of (instrument) → au moyen de;

by all means → je vous en prie;

to be meant for → être destiné(e) à;

do you mean it? → vous êtes sérieux?;

what do you mean? → que voulez-vous dire?

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mean [miːn] [meant , pt, pp ] adj (with money) → geizig;

(unkind) → gemein;

(US) (inf) (animal) → bösartig;

(shabby) → schäbig;

(average) → Durchschnitts-, mittlere(r, s)

vt (signify) → bedeuten;

(refer to) → meinen;

(intend) → beabsichtigen

n (average) → Durchschnitt m;

means npl (way) → Möglichkeit f;

(money) → Mittel pl;

by means of → durch;

by all means! → aber natürlich or selbstverständlich!;

do you mean it? → meinst du das ernst?;

what do you mean? → was willst du damit sagen?;

to be meant for sb/sth → für jdn/etw bestimmt sein;

to mean to do sth → etw tun wollen

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mean [miːn] adj (with money) → avaro/a, gretto/a (= unkind); meschino/a, maligno/a;

(US) (= vicious) [animal] → cattivo/a: [person] → perfido/a (= average); medio/a

vt [pt meant, pp ] [mɛnt] (= signify) → significare, voler dire (= intend): to mean to do → aver l'intenzione di fare

n → mezzo;

(MATH) → media;

to be meant for → essere destinato/a a;

do you mean it? → dice sul serio?;

what do you mean? → che cosa vuol dire? see also means