mean
/miːn/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.53 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To have conviction in (something said or expressed); to be sincere in (what one says).
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "I didn't mean to knock your tooth out."
- "I mean to go to Arévalo in Spain this summer; I’ve been meaning to tell you for weeks, but I’ve just found the time."
- "I meant to take the car in for a smog check, but it slipped my mind."
- "The authors meant a challenge to the status quo."
- "Do you mean to say you regret it after all?"
- "Doo not my captaines and my ſouldiers looke As if they meant to conquer Affrica?"
Etymology
From Middle English menen (“to intend; remember; lament; comfort”), from Old English mǣnan (“to mean, complain”), Proto-West Germanic *mainijan, from Proto-Germanic *mainijaną (“to mean, think; complain”), from Proto-Indo-European *meyn- (“to think”), or perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *meyno-, extended form of Proto-Indo-European *mey-. Germanic cognates include West Frisian miene (“to deem, think”) (Old Frisian mēna (“to signify”)), Dutch menen (“to believe, think, mean”) (Middle Dutch menen (“to think, intend”)), German meinen (“to think, mean, believe”), Old Saxon mēnian. Indo-European cognates include Old Irish mían (“wish, desire”) and Polish mienić (“to signify, believe”). Non-Indo-European cognates include Finnish mainita (“to mention”), Finnish meinata (“to mean, to plan, to intend”) Estonian mainima (“to mention”), Northern Sami máinnastit (“to tell”). Related to moan.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /miːn/
- British English: /miːn/