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mean

 - 16 dictionary results

mean

1  [meen] verb, meant, mean⋅ing.
Use mean in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to have in mind as one's purpose or intention; intend: I meant to compliment you on your work.
2. to intend for a particular purpose, destination, etc.: They were meant for each other.
3. to intend to express or indicate: What do you mean by “liberal”?
4. to have as its sense or signification; signify: The word “freedom” means many things to many people.
5. to bring, cause, or produce as a result: This bonus means that we can take a trip to Florida.
6. to have (certain intentions) toward a person: He didn't mean you any harm.
7. to have the value of; assume the importance of: Money means everything to them. She means the world to him.
–verb (used without object)
8. to be minded or disposed; have intentions: Beware, she means ill, despite her solicitous manner.
—Idiom
9. mean well, to have good intentions; try to be kind or helpful: Her constant queries about your health must be tiresome, but I'm sure she means well.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME menen, OE mǣnan; c. G meinen, D meenen

Synonyms:
1. contemplate. See intend. 2. destine, foreordain. 4. denote, indicate; import, imply, connote.

mean

2  [meen]
–adjective, -er, -est.
1. offensive, selfish, or unaccommodating; nasty; malicious: a mean remark; He gets mean when he doesn't get his way.
2. small-minded or ignoble: mean motives.
3. penurious, stingy, or miserly: a person who is mean about money.
4. inferior in grade, quality, or character: no mean reward.
5. low in status, rank, or dignity: mean servitors.
6. of little importance or consequence: mean little details.
7. unimposing or shabby: a mean abode.
8. small, humiliated, or ashamed: You should feel mean for being so stingy.
9. Informal. in poor physical condition.
10. troublesome or vicious; bad-tempered: a mean old horse.
11. Slang. skillful or impressive: He blows a mean trumpet.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME mene, aph. var. (see y- ) of imene, OE gemǣne; c. D gemeen, G gemein common, Goth gamains in common; cf. common

Synonyms:
2. contemptible, despicable. Mean, low, base, sordid, and vile all refer to ignoble characteristics worthy of dislike, contempt, or disgust. Mean suggests pettiness and small-mindedness: to take a mean advantage. Low suggests coarseness and vulgarity: low company. Base suggests selfish cowardice or moral depravity: base motives. Sordid suggests a wretched uncleanness, or sometimes an avariciousness without dignity or moral scruples: a sordid slum; sordid gain. Vile suggests disgusting foulness or repulsiveness: vile insinuation; a vile creature. 3. niggardly, close, tight, parsimonious, illiberal, ungenerous, selfish. See stingy. 5. common, humble; undignified, plebeian. 6. inconsequential, insignificant, petty, paltry, little, poor, wretched. 7. squalid, poor.

mean

3  [meen]
–noun
1. Usually, means. (used with a singular or plural verb) an agency, instrument, or method used to attain an end: The telephone is a means of communication. There are several means of solving the problem.
2. means,
a. available resources, esp. money: They lived beyond their means.
b. considerable financial resources; riches: a man of means.
3. something that is midway between two extremes; something intermediate: to seek a mean between cynicism and blind faith.
4. Mathematics.
a. a quantity having a value intermediate between the values of other quantities; an average, esp. the arithmetic mean.
b. either the second or third term in a proportion of four terms.
5. Statistics. expected value. mathematical expectation (def. 2).
6. Logic. the middle term in a syllogism.
–adjective
7. occupying a middle position or an intermediate place, as in kind, quality, degree, or time: a mean speed; a mean course; the mean annual rainfall.
—Idioms
8. by all means,
a. (in emphasis) certainly: Go, by all means.
b. at any cost; without fail.
9. by any means, in any way; at all: We were not surprised at the news by any means.
10. by means of, with the help of; by the agency of; through: We crossed the stream by means of a log.
11. by no means, in no way; not at all: The prize is by no means certain.
Origin:
1300–50; ME mene < MF meen, var. of meien < L mediānus; see median
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To mean
mean 1   (mēn)   
v.   meant (měnt), mean·ing, means

v.   tr.

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

    2. 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.

[Middle English menen, from Old English mǣnan, to tell of; see mei-no- in Indo-European roots.]
mean 2   (mēn)   
adj.   mean·er, mean·est

    1. Selfish in a petty way; unkind.

    2. Cruel, spiteful, or malicious.

    3. Low in quality or grade; inferior.

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

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

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

  2. Ignoble; base: a mean motive.

  3. Miserly; stingy.

    1. Low in quality or grade; inferior.

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

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

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

  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

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

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


[Middle English, from Old English gemǣne, common; see mei-1 in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: 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).
mean 3   (mēn)   
n.  

  1. Something having a position, quality, or condition midway between extremes; a medium.

  2. Mathematics

    1. A number that typifies a set of numbers, such as a geometric mean or an arithmetic mean.

    2. The average value of a set of numbers.

    3. Money, property, or other wealth: You ought to live within your means.

    4. Great wealth: a woman of means.

  3. Logic The middle term in a syllogism.

  4. means (used with a sing. or pl. verb) A method, a course of action, or an instrument by which an act can be accomplished or an end achieved.

  5. means (used with a pl. verb)

    1. Money, property, or other wealth: You ought to live within your means.

    2. Great wealth: a woman of means.

adj.  

  1. Occupying a middle or intermediate position between two extremes.

  2. Intermediate in size, extent, quality, time, or degree; medium.


[Middle English mene, middle, from Old French meien, from Latin mediānus, from medius; see medhyo- in Indo-European roots.]
Usage Note: In the sense of "financial resources" means takes a plural verb: His means are more than adequate. In the sense of "a way to an end," means may be treated as either a singular or plural. It is singular when referring to a particular strategy or method: The best means of securing the cooperation of the builders is to appeal to their self-interest. It is plural when it refers to a group of strategies or methods: The most effective means for dealing with the drug problem have generally been those suggested by the affected communities. · Means is most often followed by of: a means of noise reduction. But for, to, and toward are also used: a means for transmitting sound; a means to an end; a means toward achieving equality.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

mean

An average in statistics. (See under “Physical Sciences and Mathematics.”)


mean

In statistics, an average of a group of numbers or data points. With a group of numbers, the mean is obtained by adding them and dividing by the number of numbers in the group. Thus the mean of five, seven, and twelve is eight (twenty-four divided by three). (Compare median and mode.)

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
mean

  1. mod.
    having to do with someone or something that is very good; cool. : This music is mean, man, mean. What a great sound!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

mean  (v.)
O.E. mænan "to mean, tell, say, complain," from W.Gmc. *mainijanan (cf. O.Fris. mena, Du. menen, Ger. meinen to think, suppose, be of the opinion"), from PIE *meino- "opinion, intent" (cf. O.C.S. meniti "to think, have an opinion," O.Ir. mian "wish, desire," Welsh mwyn "enjoyment"), probably from base *men- "think." Meaningful first attested 1852.

mean  (adj.)
"low-quality," O.E. gemæne "common, public, general, universal, shared by all," from P.Gmc. *ga-mainiz "possessed jointly" (cf. O.Fris. mene, M.L.G. gemeine, Du. gemeen, Ger. gemein, Goth. gamains "common"), from PIE *ko-moin-i- "held in common," a compound adjective formed from collective prefix *ko- "together" (P.Gmc. *ga-) + *moi-n-, suffixed form of PIE base *mei- "to change, exchange" (see mutable); cf. second element in common, a word whose sense evolution parallels that of mean (adj.). Sense influenced by mean (n.). Meaning "inferior, poor" emerged c.1300; that of "stingy, nasty" first recorded 1665; weaker sense of "disobliging, pettily offensive" is from 1839, originally Amer.Eng. slang. Inverted sense of "remarkably good" (i.e. plays a mean saxophone) first recorded c.1900, also in phrase no mean _______ "not inferior" (1596, also, "not average," reflecting further confusion with mean (n.)). Meanie "cruel person" is from 1927.

mean  (n.)
"that which is halfway between extremes," 1330, from O.Fr. meien, from L. medianus "of or that is in the middle" (see median). Oldest sense is musical. Sense of "so-so, mediocre" led to confusion with mean (adj.). First record of means "course of action," is c.1380; sense of "wealth" is first recorded 1603. This is the mean in meantime (1340), meanwhile (1464), and by no means (1472).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

Mean

The simple mathematical average of two or more numbers.

Investopedia Commentary

If stock XYZ closed at 50, 51 and 54 over the past three days, the mean would be the sum of those numbers divided by 3, which is 51.67.

Related Links

Moving Averages Tutorial

See also: Average Price, Moving Average, Standard Deviation, Variance

Investopedia.com. Copyright © 1999-2005 - All rights reserved. Owned and Operated by Investopedia Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

mean (mēn)
n.

  1. Something having a position, quality, or condition midway between extremes; a medium.

  2. A number that typifies a set of numbers, such as a geometric mean or an arithmetic mean.

  3. The average value of a set of numbers.

adj.

  1. Occupying a middle or intermediate position between two extremes.

  2. Intermediate in size, extent, quality, time, or degree; medium.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Idioms & Phrases

mean

In addition to the idioms beginning with mean, also see under means.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Encyclopedia

mean

in mathematics, a quantity that has a value intermediate between those of the extreme members of some set. Several kinds of mean exist, and the method of calculating a mean depends upon the relationship known or assumed to govern the other members. The arithmetic mean, denoted x, of a set of n numbers x1, x2, , xn is defined as the sum of the numbers divided by n:

Learn more about mean with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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