meant

[ment]

See more synonyms for meant on Thesaurus.com

verb

simple past tense and past participle of mean¹.

Related formshalf-meant, adjectiveun·meant, adjective

mean

[meen]

verb (used with object), meant, mean·ing.

to have in mind as one's purpose or intention; intend: I meant to compliment you on your work.
to intend for a particular purpose, destination, etc.: They were meant for each other.
to intend to express or indicate: What do you mean by “liberal”?
to have as its sense or signification; signify: The word “freedom” means many things to many people.
to bring, cause, or produce as a result: This bonus means that we can take a trip to Florida.
to have (certain intentions) toward a person: He didn't mean you any harm.
to have the value of; assume the importance of: Money means everything to them. She means the world to him.

verb (used without object), meant, mean·ing.

to be minded or disposed; have intentions: Beware, she means ill, despite her solicitous manner.

Idioms

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 of mean

before 900; Middle English menen, Old English mǣnan; cognate with German meinen, Dutch meenen

Can be confusedmean mien

Synonym study

1. See intend.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for meant

represent, suggest, spell, say, portend, involve, indicate, imply, promise, determine, propose, make, aim, design, expect, want, anticipate, plan, herald, argue

Examples from the Web for meant

Contemporary Examples of meant

I meant no harm by it, but I remembered how this person talked, and I did it for my Mom and she was not into it.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness
Marlow Stern
January 7, 2015
Nothing in it was meant to change the basic operations of the capitalist economy or to intervene aggressively in class relations.
Thank Congress, Not LBJ for Great Society
Julian Zelizer, Scott Porch
January 4, 2015
Who knew that “we shall overcome” meant “we, the few, shall book covers every decade or so, maybe, sometimes, if we are in style.”
One Vogue Cover Doesn’t Solve Fashion’s Big Race Problem
Danielle Belton
January 2, 2015
The Moscow protest was not sanctioned, which meant every participant risked arrest.
Russia’s Rebel In Chief Escapes House Arrest
Anna Nemtsova
December 30, 2014
In general, their presence is meant to throw you off your game by design.
Brie Larson’s Hollywood Transformation
Marlow Stern
December 29, 2014

Historical Examples of meant

This explosion of the doctor's meant that he invited and awaited some contradiction.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
He feared now she meant to lose it irrevocably through remarriage.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Of course, that was to be said, but strangely enough he meant it.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
There were fourteen thousand waiters in New York, if, by waiters, you meant any one.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
When he set out he meant to reach the car and go back to town at once.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson

British Dictionary definitions for meant

meant

verb

the past tense and past participle of mean 1

mean

verb means, meaning or meant (mainly tr)

(may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to intend to convey or express
(may take a clause as object or an infinitive) intendshe didn't mean to hurt it
(may take a clause as object) to say or do in all seriousnessthe boss means what he says about strikes
(often passive often foll by for) to destine or design (for a certain person or purpose)she was meant for greater things
(may take a clause as object) to denote or connote; signify; representexamples help show exactly what a word means
(may take a clause as object) to produce; causethe weather will mean long traffic delays
(may take a clause as object) to foretell; portendthose dark clouds mean rain
to have the importance ofmoney means nothing to him
(intr) to have the intention of behaving or acting (esp in the phrases mean well or mean ill)
mean business to be in earnest

Word Origin for mean

Old English mænan; compare Old Saxon mēnian to intend, Dutch meenen

usage

In standard English, mean should not be followed by for when expressing intention: I didn't mean this to happen (not I didn't mean for this to happen)

mean

adjective

mainly British miserly, ungenerous, or petty
humble, obscure, or lowlyhe rose from mean origins to high office
despicable, ignoble, or callousa mean action
poor or shabbymean clothing; a mean abode
informal, mainly US and Canadian bad-tempered; vicious
informal ashamedhe felt mean about not letting the children go to the zoo
informal, mainly US unwell; in low spirits
slang excellent; skilfulhe plays a mean trombone
no mean
1. of high qualityno mean performer
2. difficultno mean feat

Derived Formsmeanly, adverbmeanness, noun

Word Origin for mean

C12: from Old English gemǣne common; related to Old High German gimeini, Latin communis common, at first with no pejorative sense

mean

noun

the middle point, state, or course between limits or extremes
moderation
maths
1. the second and third terms of a proportion, as b and c in a/b = c/d
2. another name for average (def. 2) See also geometric mean
statistics a statistic obtained by multiplying each possible value of a variable by its probability and then taking the sum or integral over the range of the variable

adjective

intermediate or medium in size, quantity, etc
occurring halfway between extremes or limits; average

Word Origin for mean

C14: via Anglo-Norman from Old French moien, from Late Latin mediānus median

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for meant

past participle of mean (v.).

mean

v.1

"intend, have in mind," Old English mænan "to mean, intend, signify; tell, say; complain, lament," from West Germanic *mainijan (cf. Old Frisian mena "to signify," Old Saxon menian "to intend, signify, make known," Dutch menen, German meinen "think, suppose, be of the opinion"), from PIE *meino- "opinion, intent" (cf. Old Church Slavonic meniti "to think, have an opinion," Old Irish mian "wish, desire," Welsh mwyn "enjoyment"), perhaps from root *men- "think" (see mind (n.)). Conversational question you know what I mean? attested by 1834.

mean

adj.1

"low-quality," c.1200, "shared by all," from imene, from Old English gemæne "common, public, general, universal, shared by all," from Proto-Germanic *ga-mainiz "possessed jointly" (cf. Old Frisian mene, Old Saxon gimeni, Middle Low German gemeine, Middle Dutch gemene, Dutch gemeen, German gemein, Gothic gamains "common"), from PIE *ko-moin-i- "held in common," a compound adjective formed from collective prefix *ko- "together" (Proto-Germanic *ga-) + *moi-n-, suffixed form of PIE root *mei- "to change, exchange" (see mutable). Cf. second element in common (adj.), a word with a sense evolution parallel to that of this word.

Of things, "inferior, second-rate," from late 14c. (a secondary sense in Old English was "false, wicked"). Notion of "so-so, mediocre" led to confusion with mean (n.). Meaning "inferior in rank or status" (of persons) emerged early 14c.; that of "ordinary" from late 14c.; that of "stingy, nasty" first recorded 1660s; weaker sense of "disobliging, pettily offensive" is from 1839, originally American English slang. Inverted sense of "remarkably good" (i.e. plays a mean saxophone) first recorded c.1900, perhaps from phrase no mean _______ "not inferior" (1590s, also, "not average," reflecting further confusion with mean (n.)).

mean

"that which is halfway between extremes," early 14c., from Old French meien "middle, means, intermediary," noun use of adjective from Latin medianus "of or that is in the middle" (see mean (adj.2)). Oldest sense is musical; mathematical sense is from c.1500. Some senes reflect confusion with mean (adj.1). This is the mean in by no means (late 15c.).

mean

v.2

"calculate an arithemtical mean," 1882, from mean (n.).

mean

adj.2

"occupying a middle or intermediate place," mid-14c., from Anglo-French meines (plural), Old French meien, variant of moiien "mid-, medium, common, middle-class" (12c., Modern French moyen), from Late Latin medianus "of the middle," from Latin medius "in the middle" (see medial (adj.)). Meaning "intermediate in time" is from mid-15c. Mathematical sense is from late 14c.

meant in Medicine

mean

[mēn]

Something having a position, quality, or condition midway between extremes; a medium.
A number that typifies a set of numbers, such as a geometric mean or an arithmetic mean.
The average value of a set of numbers.

adj.

Occupying a middle or intermediate position between two extremes.
Intermediate in size, extent, quality, time, or degree; medium.

meant in Science

mean

[mēn]

A number or quantity having a value that is intermediate between other numbers or quantities, especially an arithmetic mean or average. See more at arithmetic mean.
Either the second or third term of a proportion of four terms. In the proportion 23 = 46, the means are 3 and 4. Compare extreme.

meant in Culture

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.)

Idioms and Phrases with meant

mean

In addition to the idioms beginning with mean

mean business
mean to

, also see under

means