meaning
/ˈmi.nɪŋ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.87 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The denotation, referent, or idea connected with a word, expression, or symbol.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The purpose, value, or significance (of something) beyond the fact of that thing's existence.
Countable; Uncountable
adj
Expressing some intention or significance; meaningful.
Example Sentences
- "Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics.""
- "Near-synonyms: meaningfulness, point, purpose, significance, use"
- "the meaning of life"
- "The number of persons attending the vigil had a lot of meaning to the families."
- "It was their meaning to take what they needed by strong hand."
- "[…] there was nothing in the house, what there was, was broken, the last people must have lived like pigs, what could the meaning of the landlord be?"
Etymology
From Middle English mening, menyng, equivalent to mean + -ing. Cognate with Scots mening (“intent, purpose, sense, meaning”), West Frisian miening (“opinion, mind”), Dutch mening (“view, opinion, judgement”), German Meinung (“opinion, view, mind, idea”), Danish and Swedish mening (“meaning, sense, sentence, opinion”), Icelandic meining (“meaning”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmi.nɪŋ/
- British English: /ˈmiː.nɪŋ/