Word of the Day Archive
Monday November 8, 1999
mien \MEEN\ , noun:
1. Manner or bearing, especially as expressive of mood, attitude, or personality; demeanor.
2. Aspect; appearance.
He raised and answered the question with the dispassionate mien of a professor advising a student on a course of study.
-- Edith Anderson, Love in Exile
For her part, Amy soon learned to cloak her self-assurance and pride in her achievements in a modest mien.
-- Adrienne Fried Block, Amy Beach: Passionate Victorian
Here Mnemosyne shows her true face, and she is no young beauty. Not for her the unlined mien of the younger Muses.
-- Vera Schwarcz, Bridge Across Broken Time
Mien perhaps derives from French mine, "bearing, expression," from Breton min, "beak, snout," hence "a person's face."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for mien