mean Definition

mean¹
verb meant, meaning

1. To express or intend to express, show or indicate something.

Thesaurus: denote, indicate, express, signify, designate, stand for, import, symbolize, represent, imply, suggest.
2. To intend something; to have it as a purpose.

Example: didn't mean any harm
Thesaurus: propose, intend, anticipate, expect, plan, design.
3. To be serious or sincere about something.

Example: He means what he says
4. To be important to the degree specified; to represent something.

Example: Your approval means a lot to me
Example: He meant nothing to me
5. To entail something necessarily; to involve or result in it.

Example: War means hardship
6. To foretell or portend something.

Example: Cold cloudless evenings mean overnight frost

Idiom: be meant for something

To be destined to it.
Example: She was meant for stardom

Idiom: mean well

To have good intentions.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon mænan.

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mean²
adj meaner, meanest

1. Not generous.

Thesaurus: stingy, miserly, niggardly, rapacious, close-fisted, tight-fisted, greedy, mercenary, selfish, cheese-paring, penny-pinching; Antonym: generous.
2. Low; despicable.

Thesaurus: low, shabby, base, sordid, cruel, unkind, despicable, unscrupulous, petty, mean-spirited, narrow-minded, intolerant.
3. Poor; shabby; characterized by inferior quality.

Thesaurus: base, low, inferior, poor, sorry, debased, humble, ignoble, pitiful, shabby, abject, squalid, tawdry, sordid, wretched; Antonym: noble.
(especially N Amer)
4. colloq
Vicious; malicious; bad-tempered.
5. colloq
Good; skilful.
Example: plays a mean guitar

Derivative: meanly
adverb

Derivative: meanness
noun

Idiom: no mean something

An excellent one.
Example: He's no mean singer

Not an easy one; a very difficult one.
Example: That was no mean feat

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon gemæne low in rank or birth, common.

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mean³
adj

1. Midway; intermediate.
2. Average.

Thesaurus: average, common, halfway, conventional, ordinary, middling, mediocre, undistinguished; Antonym: superior.

noun

1. A midway position or course, etc between two extremes.

Thesaurus: average, centre, median, norm, middle; compromise; Antonym: extreme.
2a. math, statistics.
A mathematical average, in particular: the average value of a set of n numbers, equal to the sum of the numbers divided by n. Also called arithmetic mean;
2b. math, statistics.
A mathematical average, in particular: the average value of a set of n numbers, also taking into account their frequency, by multiplying each number by the number of times it occurs, summing the resulting values and dividing them by n. Also called weighted mean;
2c. math, statistics.
A mathematical average, in particular: the nth root of the product of n quantities or numbers, eg the geometric mean of 2 and 3 is the second (square) root of 6, ie √6. Also called geometric mean. Compare median, mode.

Etymology: 14c: from French meien, from Latin medius middle.