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mien

[ meen ]
/ min /
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noun

air, bearing, or demeanor, as showing character, feeling, etc.: a man of noble mien.

RELATED WORDS

demeanor, countenance, bearing, style, set, look, image, act, appearance, mannerism, air, port, deportment, aura, aspect, address, front, expression, carriage

Nearby words

  1. mie,
  2. mie scattering,
  3. mielie,
  4. mielziner,
  5. mielziner, jo,
  6. mieres,
  7. mies van der rohe,
  8. mies van der rohe, ludwig,
  9. miescher,
  10. miescher's granulomatosis

Origin of mien

1505–15; probably aphetic variant of obsolete demean bearing, demean2; spelled with -ie- to distinguish it from mean2
Can be confusedmean mien
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mien

British Dictionary definitions for mien

mien

/ (miːn) /

noun

literary a person's manner, bearing, or appearance, expressing personality or mooda noble mien

Word Origin for mien

C16: probably variant of obsolete demean appearance; related to French mine aspect
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 mien

mien

n.

"facial expression," 1510s, probably a shortening of Middle English demean "bearing, demeanor" (see demeanor) and influenced by Middle French mine "appearance, facial expression," which is of unknown origin, possibly Celtic (cf. Breton min "beak, muzzle, nose," Irish men "mouth").

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper