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† meann.1

Forms: early Middle English mæne ( Ormulum), early Middle English meane, Middle English mene.
Origin: A variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: English gemǣne.
Etymology: Aphetic < Old English gemǣne that which is shared or common, use as noun of gemǣne i-mene adj. Compare Old Frisian mēne assembly.
Obsolete.
Intercourse, fellowship; spec. sexual intercourse.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > [noun]
ymonec888
i-mennessec1050
meanc1175
ferredc1200
fellowshipa1225
fellowredc1230
sameningc1230
companyc1275
monec1300
conversationc1340
meanness1340
affinity?c1400
companyingc1443
compernagea1500
frequentation?1520
society1529
convoying1543
companionship1548
companyship1548
combining1552
haunt1552
community1570
unition1584
consociation1593
companionry1595
sodality1602
conversinga1610
converse1610
consorting1611
consociety1624
consociating1625
togetherness1656
association1659
consortiona1682
sociality1758
mixture1764
junction1783
consortation1796
conversancy1798
mingling1819
companionage1838
boon companionship1844
mateship1849
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > [noun] > sexual intercourse
ymonec950
moneOE
meanc1175
manredc1275
swivinga1300
couplec1320
companyc1330
fellowred1340
the service of Venusc1350
miskissinga1387
fellowshipc1390
meddlinga1398
carnal knowinga1400
flesha1400
knowledgea1400
knowledginga1400
japec1400
commoning?c1425
commixtionc1429
itc1440
communicationc1450
couplingc1475
mellingc1480
carnality1483
copulation1483
mixturea1500
Venus act?1507
Venus exercise?1507
Venus play?1507
Venus work?1507
conversation?c1510
flesh-company1522
act?1532
carnal knowledge1532
occupying?1544
congression1546
soil1555
conjunction1567
fucking1568
rem in re1568
commixture1573
coiture1574
shaking of the sheets?1577
cohabitation1579
bedding1589
congress1589
union1598
embrace1599
making-outa1601
rutting1600
noddy1602
poop-noddy1606
conversinga1610
carnal confederacy1610
wapping1610
businessa1612
coition1615
doinga1616
amation1623
commerce1624
hot cocklesa1627
other thing1628
buck1632
act of love1638
commistion1658
subagitation1658
cuntc1664
coit1671
intimacy1676
the last favour1676
quiffing1686
old hat1697
correspondence1698
frigging1708
Moll Peatley1711
coitus1713
sexual intercourse1753
shagging1772
connection1791
intercourse1803
interunion1822
greens1846
tail1846
copula1864
poking1864
fuckeea1866
sex relation1871
wantonizing1884
belly-flopping1893
twatting1893
jelly roll1895
mattress-jig1896
sex1900
screwing1904
jazz1918
zig-zig1918
other1922
booty1926
pigmeat1926
jazzing1927
poontang1927
relations1927
whoopee1928
nookie1930
hump1931
jig-a-jig1932
homework1933
quickie1933
nasty1934
jig-jig1935
crumpet1936
pussy1937
Sir Berkeley1937
pom-pom1945
poon1947
charvering1954
mollocking1959
leg1967
rumpy-pumpy1968
shafting1971
home plate1972
pata-pata1977
bonking1985
legover1985
knobbing1986
rumpo1986
fanny1993
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1948 Nan ne shollde filedd ben Þurrh hæþenn macchess mæne.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 501 For alied god self him toch Fro mannes mene in-to ðat stede Ðat adam forles for iuel-dede.
a1450 Lessons of Dirige (Digby) 195 in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 113 (MED) What man may make hym clene Þat is conceyued in vnclene sed? Ywhether þou art alone, withoute mene? To felowschipe þou hast non nede.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online December 2020).

meann.2

Brit. /miːn/, U.S. /min/, Scottish English /min/, /men/
Forms: Middle English mene; English regional (northern) 1700s– mean, 1800s meane, 1800s– meean; Scottish pre-1700 meaine, pre-1700 meine, pre-1700 meyn, pre-1700 1700s– mean, pre-1700 1800s meane, pre-1700 1800s mene, pre-1700 1900s– mein, 1800s– meen, 1900s– menn (Shetland).
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: mean v.2
Etymology: < mean v.2 Compare moan n.In Scots this word, when pronounced /men/, has fallen together with moan n. (see forms s.v. for Older Scots mane and its reflexes). Compare mean v.2
Now Scottish and English regional (northern).
A lament or complaint; a mournful sound. Now chiefly in to make mean, to make a (also one's) mean. Cf. moan n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > [noun]
carea1000
sorrowingOE
meaninga1200
moan?c1225
mourning?c1225
plaint?c1225
ruthc1225
weimerc1230
mean?c1250
sorrow?c1250
dolec1290
plainingc1300
woec1300
dolourc1320
mourna1350
waymentingc1350
penancec1380
complaintc1384
lamentationc1384
complainingc1385
moaninga1400
waiminga1400
waymenta1400
waymentationc1400
dillc1420
merourec1429
plainc1475
regratec1480
complainc1485
regretc1500
lamenting1513
doleance1524
deploration1533
deplorement1593
condolement1602
regreeting1606
imploration1607
pother1638
dolinga1668
moanification1827
dolence1861
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > [noun] > instance or act of lamenting
moan?c1225
mean?c1250
bimena1325
lamentation1382
queryc1400
pinec1440
tragedy1536
lamentc1592
complaint?1606
conclamation1627
quiritation1634
throb1635
pathetic1667
dismals1774
jeremiad1780
complain1820
tangi1836
Jobism1855
wail1867
rune1922
vigil1956
?c1250 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 113 To þe ne dar i clepien noht, to hire ich make min mene.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 19758 Widvten ani mene or sare.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) iv. l. 153 Thar petuous mene as than couth nocht be bett.
a1578 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) I. 286 This bischope..maid his meane and complent to the lord Home.
1638 in A. Maxwell Hist. Old Dundee (1884) 388 [The elderly vicar] being oft times requirit, would propone nothing but only ane mein ‘Vaiked sea’ and that..the bishop..would deprive him of his place.
a1743 J. Relph Misc. of Poems (1747) 2 Away I sleeng'd, to grandy made my mean.
1828 P. Buchan Anc. Ballads & Songs N. Scotl. II. 190 ‘Make never meen for me’, she says.
1904 Dennison's Orcadian Sketches (new ed.) 25 Sometimes hid was like a bothy i' terrable pain, makin' meen.
1934 John o' Groat Jrnl. 19 Jan. in Sc. National Dict. (at cited word) Faigs, A mak' nae mein if Willag gets a sta' for Roggey's bul'.
1954 New Shetlander No. 40. 7 Bit afore lang da maas medd menn, first ava pleepsit wye, dan wi a klaagin is an dey'd büne raameest an tirn.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

meann.3

Brit. /miːn/, U.S. /min/
Forms: Middle English meene, Middle English meyen, Middle English meyn, Middle English–1500s men, Middle English–1500s meyne, Middle English–1600s meen, Middle English–1600s mene, Middle English–1600s (1900s– historical) meane, Middle English– mean, 1500s maene, 1600s meanne, 1600s myn; Scottish pre-1700 mane, pre-1700 mayn, pre-1700 meaine, pre-1700 meane, pre-1700 meayne, pre-1700 meene, pre-1700 meine, pre-1700 men, pre-1700 mene, pre-1700 meyn, pre-1700 meyne, pre-1700 myn, pre-1700 myne, pre-1700 1700s 1900s– mein, pre-1700 1700s– mean, pre-1700 1900s– main, pre-1700 1900s– meen, 1900s– maen, 1900s– meand.
Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly formed within English, by conversion. Etymons: French mene ; mean adj.2
Etymology: Partly < Anglo-Norman mene, men, meen, meine the middle, a midpoint between two extremes, an intermediary, an average (compare Old French moien intermediary (12th cent.), meien middle (1277), Middle French, French moyen ), use as noun of Anglo-Norman mene mean adj.2; and partly < mean adj.2 Compare mesne n., moyen n.1Among parallel senses of the word in Anglo-Norman and in Old and Middle French are: ‘mediator’ (12th cent.; compare sense 2), ‘mesne tenant’ (early 14th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman), ‘that which serves to bring about some result’ (1370 as les moiens ; compare sense 3), ‘mediation’ (c1275; compare sense 5), ‘riches, financial resources’ (late 15th cent. as moyens ; compare sense 6), ‘that which is intermediate’ (c1230; compare sense 7), ‘something interposed or intervening’ (late 14th cent.; compare sense 8). The use of the plural form means with singular agreement and meaning appears to have originated in the early 16th cent. in sense 3a (the word's core sense) and to have spread to senses Phrases 3, 7b, 6a, and 3d; it does not occur in branch II. In several dictionaries of current English these plural uses are treated as a distinct noun means.
I. An intermediary agent or instrument.
†1. Feudal Law.
a. A tenant who is an intermediary between a lord, of whom he holds property, and a second tenant, to whom he has subinfeuded; = mesne tenant n. at mesne adv., adj., and n. Compounds. Cf. subinfeudation n. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > tenure of property > one who has tenure > [noun] > by service or allegiance > one holding of a mesne lord
meana1325
mesne tenant1853
a1325 Statutes of Realm (2011) vii. 38 Þoru þat te mene..made manie delais are a wolden come to curt.
b. An intermediary tenancy between a lord and a second tenant. Only in in mene: in such a tenancy; writ of mene: = writ of mesne at mesne n. 2a. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
a1325 Statutes of Realm (2011) viii. 62 Ant ȝif þat ani freo tenant feffez ani man mid partie of his londes oþer his tenementes, he sal holden it in mene of þe chef lorde.
a1325 Statutes of Realm (2011) vii. 38 Made manie delais are a wolden come to curt to ansuuerie to suuche hoere tenauns to writ of mene.
†2.
a. A person (as a saint, priest, etc.) who mediates or who acts as a channel of communication between God and humankind. Obsolete.Occasionally used of Christ viewed as such a mediator.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > [noun] > mediator between God and man
thingerOE
meana1382
mediatorc1384
intercessora1530
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Deut. v. 5 And Moises clepe al Irael..‘y felawe & mene was bytwene god & ȝow.’
c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. viii. 180 (MED) I counseil alle cristene criȝe god mercy, And marie his modir to be mene betwene.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xv. 535 Þus in a faith lyueth þat folke and in a false mene [i.e. Mohammed].
a1500 (?c1378) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 409 (MED) A prest shulde be a mene bitwixe god & þe puple.
1508 J. Fisher Treat. Penyt. Psalmes sig. ee.vi O blessyd lady be thou meane and medyatryce bytwene thy sone & wretched synners.
1570 T. Norton tr. A. Nowell Catechisme f. 55 We nede not then, for accesse to God, some man to be our meane.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. l. 106 There is no vnion of God with man without that meane betweene both which is both.
b. A person who acts as mediator, intermediary, negotiator, or ambassador between others; a person who intercedes for another or uses influence in order to bring about a desired result.
(a) In singular and plural. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > intercession or influence on someone's behalf > [noun] > one who
forespeakerc1175
sequesterc1380
meanc1384
meanera1387
mediatorc1410
advocatec1450
intercessor1482
advowrer1508
attorney1537
paranympha1538
paraclete?1548
advocator1588
intercedera1656
intercedenta1661
supercargo1713
citizen advocate1958
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [noun] > intermediate agency > intermediate means > person as
dealerc1000
meanc1384
mediatorc1390
moyen1455
intermediator1522
broker1530
middlera1533
intercessor1554
mercury1602
intermedial1605
transactor1611
interdealer1613
intermeddler1630
intercommuner1638
middleman1648
second hand1655
inter-agent1728
intermediary1791
in-between1815
medium1817
intermediate1879
come-between1919
tolkach1955
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (N.Y. Publ. Lib.) (1850) Rom. Prol. 299 To these thus striuende, the apostil putte hym a mene bitwen, shewende to bothe puples, neither circumcisioun to ben oȝt, neither the kept flesh, but the feith that werkith bi charite.
c1390 G. Chaucer Miller's Tale 3375 He woweth hire by menes and brocage.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. i. 158 A mene, as þe Maire is bitwene þe kyng and þe comune.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) iii. 254 For the am I becomen..swich a meene As maken wommen unto men to comen.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 332 Meene, massyngere, internuncius. Meene, or medyatowre, mediator.
1455 Rolls of Parl. V. 285/1 It myght lyke the said Lieutenaunte and all the Lordes, to be goode meanes unto the Kynges Highnesse, that suche a persone myght be purveide fore.
1538 in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. II. 90 That it might please your Lordship to be a meane for us to our Soveraign Lorde the Kynge is Highenes.
1562 in F. J. Furnivall Child-marriages, Divorces, & Ratifications Diocese Chester (1897) 71 This deponent was desired of both parties, to be a meane that they might marie before the day appointed.
1606 J. Carpenter Schelomonocham xii. f. 47 She would be a meane for him to the king.
1612 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 185 Let a man in the choise of his meane, rather chuse the fittest meane then the greatest meane.
a1634 A. Gardyne Theatre Scotish Worthies (1878) 9 Thow was made the mene..Both to establish and to intertaine A treatie.
(b) In plural, with singular agreement and sense. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1554 T. Cranmer Let. in M. Coverdale Certain Lett. Martyrs (1564) 16 In most humble wise sueth vnto your ryght honourable Lordships, Thomas Cranmer, late Archbishop of Cavnterbury; beseyching the same to be a meanes for me vnto the quenes hyghnes.
1559–66 in D. Laing Misc. Wodrow Soc. (1844) 74 The Marques of D'Albuef, the subtill meanes of the Duke of Guise.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. xx. 25 He being by them praied to be a meanes towards the Bascha.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Moyenneur, a means, mediator.
3.
a. An instrument, agency, method, or course of action employed to attain some object or bring about some result. Often used predicatively (of persons as well as things), in to be the means (occasionally also mean) of. Frequently in phrases with end (see end n. 14a); means to an end: any action, behaviour, or object considered in terms of its results rather than in terms of its value, ethicality, etc., in and of itself; (also) the method by which any specific object is attained.
(a) In plural, with plural or indeterminate agreement and sense.See also fair means n. at fair adj. and n.1 Compounds 1b, ways and means n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [noun] > (a) means
keyOE
toolc1000
wherewithc1230
ministerc1380
meanc1390
instrumenta1425
organ?a1425
mesne1447
moyen1449
handlec1450
hackneya1500
receipta1500
operative1526
ingine1531
appliance1555
agent1579
matter1580
mids1581
wedge1581
wherewithal1583
shoeing-horn1587
engine1589
instrumental1598
Roaring Meg1598
procurement1601
organy1605
vehicle1615
vehiculuma1617
executioner1646
facility1652
operatory1660
instrumentality1663
expedient1665
agency1684
bladea1713
mechanic1924
mechanism1924
c1390 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 480 Crist..By certein menes ofte..Dooth thyng for certein ende that ful derk is.
c1395 G. Chaucer Friar's Tale 1484 We been goddes instrumentz And meenes to doon his comandementz.
1420 R. Waterton Let. 12 Apr. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. I. 6 Lettres..chargyng me to assaye by all the menesse that I kan to exyte and stirre sych as bene able gentilmen.
?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 121 Þei comen bi false menys as ypocrisie & lesyngis to þes grete lordischipes.
1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. Rom. x. f. xxviiiv The eares, throughe whom as meanes the gospell of Christ is powred into the obedient soule.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. iii. 180 [He] left no meanes unattempted for the recouerie of this citie.
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Custome of Countrey v. iv, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Cc3v/1 Wonders are ceas'd Sir, we must worke by meanes.
1651 T. Hobbes Philos. Rudim. xiv. 223 Every man by reasoning seeks out the meanes to the end which he propounds to himselfe.
1733 A. Pope Ess. Man iii. 86 And find the Means proportion'd to their End.
1740 D. Hume Treat. Human Nature III. iii. 277 Virtue is consider'd as means to an end. Means to an end are only valued so far as the end is valued.
1842 T. De Quincey in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 730/2 Teleologically, that is, considered as means to an end—diamonds have as undeniably a value in use as any other article.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. xcvi. 341 Vehement declaimers hounded on Congress to take arbitrary means for the suppression of the practice.
1905 J. Q. Dealey & L. F. Ward Text-bk. Sociol. iv. xvi. §280. 237 If we regard all the forces of nature..as so many means to the ends of man and society, telesis becomes the adjustment of means to ends, and all human effort is expended upon the means.
1917 E. R. Burroughs Princess of Mars v. 50 The green men of Mars, being a nomadic race without high intellectual development, have but crude means for artificial lighting.
1950 D. Cusack Morning Sacrifice in 3 Austral. Three-act Plays iii. ii. 249 One of our sweetest children..has been taken from us by terrible and violent means.
1986 M. Foot Loyalists & Loners 58 Moreover, the means by which this end is achieved are themselves remarkable.
(b) In singular. Now rare (chiefly archaic).
ΚΠ
a1398 [see Phrases 1a].
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) v. 1551 The fate wolde his soule sholde unbodye, And shapen hadde a mene it out to dryve.
1444 Rolls of Parl. V. 104/2 Be which subtile meene ye lose gret part of your custumes.
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) 1345 Tydeus, seyng no bettre mene..With-out abood facte gan hym spede.
1539 T. Cromwell in R. B. Merriman Life & Lett. T. Cromwell (1902) II. 226 This..sheweth a meane howe..you may make them yet better.
1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie 248 A most blessed mean to a most blessed end, a learned maintenance of an heauenlie happinesse.
1611 W. Sclater Key (1629) 243 Vncharitable is that sentence of Papists; that Baptisme is necessarie as a meane to saluation.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iv. 90 Yet Nature is made better by no meane, But Nature makes that Meane. View more context for this quotation
1635 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Donzella Desterrada 114 Dariacan himselfe had beene the instrumentall meane of my flight.
1785 T. Balguy Disc. Various Subj. 31 Let us consider it as a mean, not as an end.
1814 W. Brown Hist. Propagation Christianity II. 402 The Mission to the South Sea Islands..has..been a powerful mean of promoting the interests of Christianity.
1881 A. C. Swinburne Mary Stuart ii. i God..procure Some mean whereby mine enemies craft and his May take no feet but theirs in their own toils.
1921 in F. W. Taussig Sel. Readings in Internat. Trade & Tariff Probl. This is a much more powerful mean of augmenting the fund of national industry.
1994 K. Kelly Out of Control xix. 386 Evolution pressed into artificial evolution within computers has passed the first neodarwinist test. It demonstrates spontaneous self-selection as a mean of adaptation, and as a mean of generating some initial novelty.
(c) In plural, with singular agreement and sense.
ΚΠ
1512 W. Knight Let. 5 Aug. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. I. 192 A good meanys to know the trowthe..were to gyve in commandement to John Style secretli to write the trowthe.
1550 R. Sherry tr. Erasmus Declam. Chyldren in Treat. Schemes & Tropes sig. Ni Let vs vse thys whyp continuallye in our chyldren, yt beyng wel brought vp, they maye haue at home a meanes to lyue well.
1606 G. W. tr. Justinus Hist. xxxviii. 120 Being..a means to train them vp in a secure experience to make themselues waye.
1652 H. L'Estrange Americans No Iewes 6 To be dashed and defeated by so weak a seeming means.
1672 H. More Brief Reply 262 As being a means to this end, and, therefore, Causal thereto.
1750 W. Beawes Lex Mercatoria (1752) 2 Commerce..is now become an universal means..for the improvement of..fortune.
1843 A. Bethune Sc. Peasant's Fire-side 28 You were indirectly the means of getting me introduced.
1863 C. Redding Yesterday & To-day III. 142 (note) I was the means of this being done.
1915 C. P. Gilman Herland in Forerunner Dec. 321/2 Your view seems to us rather—shall I say, practical? Prosaic? Merely a means to an end!
1955 L. P. Hartley Perfect Woman (1959) 78 Conversation should either be a means to an end, a business deal, or taking soundings for one.
1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day i. 20 How deeply the loss impoverished my growing years or affected my disposition, there is no means of telling.
1993 Independent on Sunday 4 Apr. (Review Suppl.) 38/3 Reading is viewed, at best, as a means to an end.
b. †to make means: to take steps or make efforts (obsolete). to find means [compare Middle French trouver moyen de (a1473)] : to find a way, contrive, manage (with infinitive as object; formerly also with †of); also to find the means (also †mean) (with infinitive as object; formerly also with †for or †that-clause).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > make an attempt or endeavour [verb (intransitive)] > to do something
cuneOE
seekc1000
fanda1225
suec1325
tastec1330
enforcec1340
study1340
temptc1384
intendc1385
assaila1393
proffera1393
to make meansc1395
search?a1400
fraistc1400
pursuec1400
to go aboutc1405
pretend1482
attempta1513
essay?1515
attend1523
regarda1533
offer1541
frame1545
to stand about1549
to put into (also in) practice1592
prove1612
imitate1626
snap1766
begin1833
make1880
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > intercession or influence on someone's behalf > intercede or use influence for [verb (transitive)] > intercede or use influence with
to make meansc1395
intercess1586
intercessionate1594
intercede1698
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > find means to do something [verb (intransitive)]
to make one's waya1400
to find (the) moyen (also moyens)1449
to find the means (also mean)1461
to find means?1464
to see one's way1628
c1395 G. Chaucer Franklin's Tale 883 How thanne may it be That ye swiche menes make it to destroyen, Whiche menes do no good but euere anoyen?
1461 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 96 That Richard Calle fynde the meane that a distresse may be taken of such bestes as occupie the ground at Stratton.
?1464 J. Russe in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 282 Ore hise wryting cam Wydwell fond the meanys..that we had a discharge fore hym out of the Chauncery.
1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia ii. sig. Pivv They make all the meanes and shyftes that maye be to kepe themselfes from the necessitye of fyghtynge.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 45 Then meanes was made vpon either side for the deliuery and exchaunge of prisoners.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. viii. 8 b I founde the meanes for moneye and withe fayre woordes to hyre a..Spaniarde.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 259 We..found meanes to pierce the vessell, and get good Wine to our ill fare.
1631 J. Weever Anc. Funerall Monuments 562 A man much renowned for..the charges he was at, and the meanes he made, to adorne..his Church.
1675 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Odysses xvi. 193 There he found means to give them all the slip.
1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews I. i. iii. 10 It was this Gentleman, who..had found means to question him, concerning several Particulars. View more context for this quotation
1782 J. H. St. J. de Crèvecoeur Lett. from Amer. Farmer viii. 211 One of them had been bred a weaver, and having a loom in the house, found means of cloathing the whole family.
1818 M. W. Shelley Frankenstein II. vi. 88 This lovely girl..found means to express her thoughts in the language of her lover by the aid of an old man, a servant of her father's, who understood French.
1851 N. Hawthorne House of Seven Gables xii. 190 He had visited Europe, and found means, before his return, to see Italy, and part of France and Germany.
1881 A. Trollope Dr. Wortle's School I. viii. 142 If the first brunt of it were over, I could find means to comfort you.
1916 E. R. Burroughs Beasts of Tarzan x. 157 It was with difficulty that Tarzan could find means to communicate with the natives.
1991 H. Barty-King Worst Poverty 89 Though the law prohibited the forcible opening of a door, yet the bailiffs found means to evade that prohibition.
†c. Trickery; a trick, contrivance, bribe, etc. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > [noun]
swikec893
swikedomc893
dwalec950
braida1000
falsec1000
flerdc1000
swikelnessa1023
fakenOE
chuffingc1175
fikenungc1175
bipechingc1200
treachery?c1225
falseshipc1230
guilec1230
telingc1230
swikeheada1250
craftc1275
felony1297
wrench1297
deceitc1300
gabc1300
guiling13..
guilery1303
quaintisec1325
wrenk1338
beswiking1340
falsehood1340
abetc1350
wissing1357
wilec1374
faitery1377
faiting1377
tregetryc1380
fallacec1384
trainc1390
coverture1393
facrere1393
ficklenessc1397
falsagea1400
tregeta1400
abusionc1405
blearingc1405
deceptionc1430
mean?c1430
tricotc1430
obreption1465
fallacy1481
japery1496
gauderya1529
fallax1530
conveyance1531
legerdemain1532
dole1538
trompe1547
joukery1562
convoyance1578
forgery1582
abetment1586
outreaching1587
chicanery1589
falsery1594
falsity1603
fubbery1604
renaldry1612
supercherie1621
circumduction1623
fobbinga1627
dice-play1633
beguile1637
fallaxitya1641
ingannation1646
hocus1652
renardism1661
dodgerya1670
knapping1671
trap1681
joukery-pawkery1686
jugglery1699
take-in1772
tripotage1779
trickery1801
ruse1807
dupery1816
nailing1819
pawkery1820
hanky-panky1841
hokey-pokey1847
suck-in1856
phenakisma1863
skulduggery1867
sharp practice1869
dodginess1871
jiggery-pokery1893
flim-flammery1898
runaround1915
hanky1924
to give the go-around1925
Scandiknavery1927
the twist1933
hype1955
mamaguy1971
?c1430 (?1383) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 302 (MED) Þei seyn þat þei may lawfully have..alle þat þei may purchase by sotel menys.
c1450 King Ponthus (Digby) in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1897) 12 130 (MED) I had leuer dye for hungre then to se yonde traitour gete you by this meane.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vii. l. 1116 Bot he be meyne gat his castell agayne.
1537 in State Papers Henry VIII (1830) I. 548 Ne any brogges or meanes, that any of those borderers or any other, canne make.
1596 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) ix. liii. 239 Nor is through Meed, or Means, the Weak betraied to the Strong.
1629 in S. A. Gillon Sel. Justiciary Cases (1953) I. 99 For cleiring of his innocencie of that ungodlie meayne and moyane.
d. Theology. In plural. In full means of grace. The sacraments and other ceremonial forms viewed as the agency by which divine grace is imparted to the soul, or by which growth in grace is promoted; (in Evangelical use) public worship regarded in this way; (with singular agreement) an agency conducive to spiritual improvement. under the means of grace (formerly often †under means): subject to the operation of the means of grace.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > sacrament > [noun] > collectively
ChristendomOE
mean1630
1630 W. Prynne Anti-Arminianisme 126 Suruay we all the internall, all the externall meanes of grace.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 5 Shall rise up and convince all beleevers, I meane such as live under meanes in that day.
1650 R. Baxter Saints Everlasting Rest (1651) iv. 8 Do we not miss Ministry and Means more passionately, then we miss our God?
1650 R. Baxter Saints Everlasting Rest (1651) iv. 20 I know the means of grace must be loved and valued, and the usual enjoyment of God is in the use of them.
1662 Bk. Common Prayer Thanksgiving For the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.
1771 J. Wesley in Wks. (1872) V. 187 By ‘means of grace’ I understand outward signs, words, or actions, ordained of God,..to be the ordinary channels whereby he might convey to men, preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace.
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. ii. xv. 223 A sip of Daffy's elixir..has proved a powerful means of Grace.
1833 Tracts for Times No. 11. 2 The same company that are under the means of grace here.
1841 A. R. C. Dallas Past. Superintend. 185 The number of persons above the age of education, who ought to attend the means of grace.
1891 W. Besant St. Katherine's p. x The discourse of the preacher was on the fearful condition of those who disobey the discipline of the Church and refuse the means of Grace.
1927 Jrnl. Negro Hist. 11 8 To be sure, our presence has not always been a means of grace to the rest of the nation, but who can tell to what extent it has proved a means of grace?
1972 W. Samarin Tongues Men & Angels iv. 74 Some people make a distinction between what they call ‘evidential glossolalia’ that reveals the arrival of the Holy Spirit and fluent glossolalia that is used as a means of grace.
1995 Jrnl. Hist. Ideas 56 404 Sinners who attempt to use the means of grace are pretenders who purposely preoccupy themselves with the ‘means’ in order to avoid doing what they must do immediately, which is repent.
e. Chiefly Economics. means of production: the aggregate resources (capital, land, workforce, etc.) of any country or society; (spec. in Marxist theory) the total productive capacity of these resources.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > political philosophy > communism > [noun] > Marxism > specific theories or usages
means of production1833
revolution1850
false consciousness1858
superstructure1887
proletarian revolution1888
historical materialism1892
dictatorship of the proletariat1895
synthesis1896
dialectical materialism1898
practice1899
withering away1919
base1933
praxis1933
reification1941
cultural Marxism1949
spontaneism1970
1833 H. Martineau Cinnamon & Pearls v. 92 A special instrument for forcing the means of production into artificial channels.
1850 H. Macfarlane tr. K. Marx & F. Engels Manifesto Communist Party in Red Republican 9 Nov. 162/2 These means of production and traffic which served as the foundation of middle-class development, originated in feudal times.
1887 S. Moore & E. B. Aveling tr. K. Marx Capital II. viii. 738 The so-called primitive accumulation..is nothing else than the historical process of divorcing the producer from the means of production.
1928 G. B. Shaw Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism & Capitalism I. 218 What is really moving the world is the Class Struggle, the Class War..between the proprietors and the proletariat for the possession of the land and capital of the country (the Means of Production).
1991 Independent 3 Dec. 5/2 He is the unreconstructed socialist who still believes capitalism cannot succeed and that fundamental change for working people will only come through the common ownership of the means of production and exchange.
†4.
a. A condition which permits or is conducive to something; an opportunity. In early use also plural: conditions or offered terms (of peace). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > agreement > [noun] > terms of agreement
termc1350
meanc1425
articles?1507
capitulation1529
quarter1615
the world > action or operation > advantage > an opportunity > [noun]
chance1297
occasiona1382
leisurec1386
opportunitya1387
advantage1487
portunity1516
in the nick1565
mean1592
vantage?1592
occasionet1593
overture1610
hinta1616
largeness1625
convenience1679
tid1721
opening1752
offer1831
slant1837
show1842
showing1852
show-up1883
window of opportunity1942
op1978
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iv. 4606 (MED) Of þes þe menes þat þei souȝt..wern to hem denyed.
1430–1 Rolls of Parl. IV. 371/2 To refuse Pees offred with menes resonable.
1430–1 Rolls of Parl. IV. 371/2 Yf yeim thynke ye menys of Pees offred.
1430–1 Rolls of Parl. IV. 371/2 To offre for ye Kyngges partie menis yat shal be thought.
?1530 J. Rastell Pastyme of People sig. *Cvi By the treatyse of the Countes of Henaude..a meane was made..for a truse.
1592 R. Dallington tr. F. Colonna Hypnerotomachia f. 81v My secret thoughts consented thervnto, consygning a free meane and large entrance, for the discouery of my desire.
1615 T. Overbury et al. New & Choise Characters with Wife (6th impr.) sig. I2v Hee vnderstands in warre, there is no meane to erre twice.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) i. ii. 18 Many a man would take you at your word, And goe indeede, hauing so good a meane . View more context for this quotation
b. in means (also in a mean): having the opportunity to do something; (hence) likely or about to to do something. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > probability, likelihood > [adverb] > likely to do or obtain
in the way ofa1400
in state?1536
in a meana1552
in means1592
a1552 J. Leland Itinerary (1711) VI. 2 Asscheforde Churche was in a meane to be collegiatyd by the Reqwest of one Fogge.
1592 tr. F. Du Jon Apocalypsis xii. 2 She seemed near unto death, and in meanes ready to give up the Ghost.
†5. Mediation or intercession; exercise of influence to bring about something; instigation. to make mean(s) [compare Middle French faire son moyen (mid 15th cent.)] : to intercede; to negotiate with; to make overtures to.Cf. sense 2.
a. In plural. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > intercession or influence on someone's behalf > [noun]
erndinga1000
mediationa1387
advocacyc1390
mediacya1425
meanc1450
moyen1454
interposition1462
mean1465
myance?a1513
advocation1532
intercession1534
advocateship?1555
intercessionment1593
interceding1600
intermise1612
means-making1617
intermission1647
interposal1687
spoke1867
c1450 (?c1400) Three Kings Cologne (Cambr. Ee.4.32) (1886) 130 Sche made grete menys and grete preiors.
1456 in C. Innes & P. Chalmers Liber S. Thome de Aberbrothoc (1856) II. 88 And the boundis of it ar accordit be trety and the menys off thir personis.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. KKKiiv By whose suffrage, intercession and meanes, we be holpen in this lyfe.
1536 in J. T. Gilbert Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 498 Youre grase hys good mens.
1591 H. Unton Corr. (1847) 237 Great meanes have been made for him.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. iii. 78 Our brother is imprisoned by your meanes . View more context for this quotation
a1641 J. Finett Philoxenis (1656) 191 Sir Henry Mildmay had made his meanes to the Duke of Buckingham..for carriage..of the Present designed to the Ambassador.
b. In singular. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > intercession or influence on someone's behalf > [noun]
erndinga1000
mediationa1387
advocacyc1390
mediacya1425
meanc1450
moyen1454
interposition1462
mean1465
myance?a1513
advocation1532
intercession1534
advocateship?1555
intercessionment1593
interceding1600
intermise1612
means-making1617
intermission1647
interposal1687
spoke1867
1465 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 143 My lord of Norwich, by the meane of Master John Selot, had geue a jugement in the mater of the presentacion for the chirche of Drayton.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1872) IV. 239 (MED) He was sente ageyne the kynge of Araby thro meane of Cleopatra [L. ad petitionem Cleopatræ].
1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 1 Thurgh the meane of the Mediatrice of Mercy.
1510 Hours Blessed Virgin 91 Give us the life that ever doth excell, Through thy prayer & speciall meane.
1535 Goodly Prymer in Eng. sig. L.iij They must nedes fyrst make meane vnto hym [sc. a temporal prince] by some man that is in his fauour.
1565 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. i. 567 The mr Maxwell..to reconcile my meane, on his knees entreated me to hear [etc.].
1570 R. Sempill Poysonit Schot (single sheet) How the same began to be suppressit: Be Murrayis meane we haif experience.
6.
a. In plural. Resources available for carrying out something, achieving some objective, etc.; spec. financial resources, esp. in relation to requirements or expenditure (sometimes more fully means of living, etc.; also means of subsistence at subsistence n. 9a). Sometimes more widely: money, wealth. man (also woman, etc.) of means n. a man or woman who has a substantial income or is wealthy.
(a) With plural or indeterminate agreement.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > funds or pecuniary resources > [noun]
coffer1377
pursec1384
possibilityc1385
moneyc1390
financec1475
abilityc1503
purse stringc1530
moyen1547
means1560
financy1600
pocket1633
fonds1669
wherewith1674
apoinctee1682
funds1700
ways and means1738
money stock1743
pecuniary1748
pecuniar1793
wherewithal1809
ante1843
pocketbook1897
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [noun] > (a) means > resources
facultya1382
myance?a1513
moyen1547
facility1555
means1560
resource1611
foisona1616
wherewith1674
asset1677
stock-in-tradea1806
wherewithal1809
possibles1823
bag of tricks1841
potential1941
1560 in Bannatyne Misc. (1827) I. 234 As the Kirk decays in moyane and meanes.
1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS f. 261v Bot neuirtheles the laird mon fyne For all his menis ane tun of wyne.
1588 T. Hariot Briefe Rep. Virginia sig. A3v The cheefe enterpriser..is also readie, according as the times and meanes will affoorde, to follow and prosecute the same.
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning i. sig. D1v Iudging that meanes were to be spent vpon learning, and not learning to be applyed to meanes. View more context for this quotation
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 50 If hee be a man of meanes, and likely hereafter to beare charge in his Countrey..I wishe him to Historie.
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 284 Two children, who lived there upon their mothers means.
1794 R. B. Sheridan Duenna (new ed.) ii. 41 He has never sullied his honor, which, with his title, has outlived his means.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) II. 432 Finding there readier means of subsistence, than in the other cities of the kingdom.
1823 W. Scott Peveril I. ii. 33 We are great enough for our means, and have means sufficient for contentment.
1869 L. M. Alcott Little Women II. i. 8 As long as ‘The Spread Eagle’ paid her a dollar a column..Jo felt herself a woman of means.
1904 G. K. Chesterton Napoleon of Notting Hill iv. iii. 245 By spending about four thousand pounds of his private means.
1952 A. Bevan In Place of Fear v. 76 Where a patient claimed he could not afford treatment, an investigation would have to be made into his means.
1987 Sunday Express Mag. 31 May 65/2 I never thought I'd be..a man of means.
†(b) With singular agreement and sense. Also as a count noun: a livelihood (rare). Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1615 G. Wither Shepherds Hunting v, in Juvenilia (1633) 439 I waste my Meanes which of itself is slender.
1615 R. Brathwait Strappado 52 They're..men that get A slauish meanes out of a seruile wit.
c1642 R. Harris Hezekiah's Recov. 27 All that meanes..is little enough to buy a constant Preacher bookes and physicke.
b. to live beyond one's means: to spend more than one can afford. to live within one's means: to keep one's expenditure within what one can afford.
ΚΠ
1662 Duchess of Newcastle Several Wits i. vi, in Playes Written 82 Whether they live beyond their means, or keep within their compasse.
1799 W. Godwin St. Leon I. v. 136 I was living beyond the means I had to discharge my expences.
1848 A. Brontë Tenant of Wildfell Hall II. vii. 132 By thus living beyond her legitimate means and lavishing so much on their brother, she renders them portionless.
1881 H. James Portrait of Lady I. xviii. 239 After that [extravagance] she would come to her senses, remember that she had still a lifetime before her, and live within her means.
1894 W. H. Wilkins & H. Vivian Green Bay Tree I. 11 It was very wrong for a man to live beyond his means.
1977 E. Johnson Charles Dickens i. 21 Although he had received a final salary increase in 1820 to £350 a year, he was again living beyond his means.
1999 Independent 18 Nov. ii. 4/2 Even more perplexing to me is this compulsion that intelligent people..feel to impress wealthy bean-brains. As if they cannot be themselves, live within their means, and get the respect that they surely deserve.
II. That which is in the middle.
7.
a. That which is intermediate; a condition, quality, disposition, or course of action, that is equally removed from two opposite extremes. Frequently with an adjective indicating the desirability of such a state, as happy mean, †merry mean, etc. (cf. happy medium n. at happy adj. and n. Compounds 3); see also golden mean n. 1. Formerly also: †a midpoint or intermediate link between physical extremes (obsolete).The doctrine of the desirability of a position between two extremes occurs in many philosophies, but in European thought is likely to derive from Aristotle, who esp. in the Nicomachean Ethics (1106b 27 and elsewhere) associated virtue or goodness (ἀρετή) with such a middle position or mean (μεσότης).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > central condition or position > [noun] > middle or centre
middleeOE
mideOE
midwardOE
middleheada1325
pointc1330
midsa1382
meanc1390
middleward1431
midstc1450
centrea1500
centrya1535
navel1604
umbilic1607
meditullium1611
half-way1634
umbrila1636
amidst1664
eye1671
umbil1688
omphalos1845
mid-career1911
middle-middle1926
c1390 G. Chaucer Parson's Tale 833 Attemperaunce..holdeth the mene in alle thynges.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 169 Downes ben menes bitwene þe lowest pleyne of þe londe and þe hiȝest coppe of hilles.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 6527 Richesse and mendicitees Ben clepid two extremytees; The mene is cleped suffisaunce.
?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. iv. pr. vii. 107 Ocupye the mene.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) ii. 27 Demene hit in the mene of moyst and drie.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) iii. 398 Ereithe[r] sappe wol condescende Vnto that mene, & glew hem self in fere.
c1475 (c1399) Mum & Sothsegger (Cambr. Ll.4.14) (1936) ii. 139 (MED) Mesure is a meri mene, þouȝ men moche yerne.
1544 R. Tracy Supplycacion to Kynge Henry VIII sig. Ciiijv Betwene these extreame contraries there is no meane.
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 59v I haue heard that extremities are to be vsed, where the meane will not serue.
1596 E. Spenser Hymne in Honour of Love 87 Tempering goodly well Their contrary dislikes with loved meanes.
1651 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa I. i. i. 15 There was no Meane betweene my misery, and her favour.
1659 J. Howell Prov. Eng. Toung 9/1 in Lex. Tetraglotton (1660) Measure is a merry mean.
1690 W. Walker Idiomatologia Anglo-Lat. 297 In apparel the mean is the best.
1716 A. Pope Full Acct. E. Curll 5 There is a mean in all things.
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. v. vi. 276 Religion is the virtuous Mean between Incredulity and Superstition.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. (ed. 5) II. vii. 234 It is not easy..to preserve with steadiness the happy mean between these two extremes.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 24/2 A mean between the darkest and lightest tint used.
1952 P. Tillich Courage to Be iii. 74 This is the truth in Aristotle's doctrine of courage as the right mean between cowardice and temerity.
1979 N. Gordimer Burger's Daughter 77 The smoked glass windows made the climate of each day the same cool mean, neither summer nor winter.
1990 Harvard Jrnl. Asiatic Stud. 50 547 The lord and chief perfects his virtue so that he brings about government consistent in the happy mean and in harmony.
†b. Absence of extremes; moderation. in a mean: with moderation. to use a mean: to exercise moderation. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > restrained or moderate behaviour > [noun]
i-metOE
hovec1175
metc1175
methec1175
measurec1225
measure?c1225
temperancea1340
methefulnessc1350
temperurec1380
mannera1382
mannernessa1382
sobernessc1384
attemperancec1386
measurablenessa1400
amesingc1400
meanheada1425
mediocrity?a1425
moderation?a1425
moderancea1460
temperancy1526
mean1531
modesty1531
temperature1536
measure-keeping1556
moderateness1571
moderature1574
sobriety1582
mediety1583
moderacy1601
temperateness1609
reserve1660
medium1693
soft pedal1899
met1932
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > restrained or moderate behaviour > moderate or with moderation [phrase]
in (also by, with) measurec1225
of measurec1400
in moderation1483
in a mean1531
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > restrained or moderate behaviour > behave with moderation or restraint [verb (intransitive)]
to keep (also observe) measure(s) (also a measure)a1500
to use a mean1607
go-easy1860
to pull one's punches1931
to go slow1962
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour iii. xvi. sig. dviv Who so euer is contented with his present astate, & supposeth felicitie to be in a meane.., will a lowe these sentences.
1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus To Gentlem. Eng. I woulde desire all..to vse this pastime in suche a mean, that the outragiousnes of great gamyng, shuld not hurte the honestie of shotyng.
1556 tr. J. de Flores Histoire de Aurelio & Isabelle sig. D8 De kinge..axede them what meane one oughte to keape in suche a case.
1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 5 So they [sc. versifying, dancing, and singing] bee vsed with meane, & exercised in due time.
1607 J. Norden Surueyors Dialogue ii. 103 I wish, that Lords and their ministers would use a meane in exacting.
a1625 J. Fletcher Wild-goose Chase (1652) ii. ii. 20 I will be what I please, Sir, So I exceed not Mean.
1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 23 But to speake in a Meane.
1655 N. Culpeper et al. tr. L. Rivière Pract. Physick i. i. 4 Use a mean in sleep and waking.
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad V. xvii. 573 When he seeks the Prize, War knows no mean.
†8. Something interposed or intervening. by means: through intermediate links (of descent). without any mean [after Middle French sans nul moien without hesitation (c1380)] : directly or immediately; unconditionally. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition or fact of being interjacent > [noun] > that which is interjacent
meana1400
moyen1483
umpire1605
intermedium1611
intermediate1650
middle1665
between-lier1674
borderland1821
border-ground1871
border-world1878
grey zone1900
twilight zone1909
grey area1935
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [adverb] > through intermediate links
by meansa1400
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 23 (MED) A gristil..schulde be a meene bitwene þe vttir ende of þe hard boon & þe neische fleisch.
1425 Rolls of Parl. IV. 270/2 Of whiche Doughter by menes is comen ye Erle.
c1440 (a1349) R. Rolle Eng. Prose Treat. (1921) 16 All menes lettande be-twyx þe saule and þe clennes of angells es brokene and put awaye fra it.
c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 21 (MED) The harde [pannicle] þat it myȝte be a mene bitwene þe scolle & þe pia mater, and þe neische..þat it myȝte be a meene bitwene þe harde and þe brayn.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. lxiii. 85 It was determyned, that bothe parties..shulde sende foure or fyue personages, as their embassodours, and to mete at Arras; and the pope in likwyse to sende thyder foure, and ther to make a full confirmacyon without any meane.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cccli. 564 All the gentylmen of Flaunders sware to hym to be good and true..without any meane, wherfore therle was greatly reioysed.
1577 Vicary's Profitable Treat. Anat. sig. B.ij That the grystle should be a meane betweene the Lygament and him [sc. the bone].
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 (1623) iii. ii. 141 So doe I wish the Crowne, being so farre off, And so I chide the meanes that keepes me from it. View more context for this quotation
9. Music.
a. Originally: the middle part in three-part polyphonic music. Subsequently: the alto part in any polyphonic music, or (more generally) any intermediate part. Also: a person performing such a part, or the instrument on which it is played. Also figurative. Now chiefly historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > [noun] > performer of middle part
mean?a1400
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > [noun] > instrument for middle part
mean?a1400
taille1842
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > harmony or sounds in combination > [noun] > part in harmony or counterpoint > middle parts
mean?a1400
medius1563
seconda1774
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. 11031 Þer mot men se..þo clerkis þat best couth syng; with tribille, mene, & burdoun, of manyon was suete soun.
c1425 (c1400) Laud Troy-bk. 6598 I schal the teche bothe burdoun and mene.
a1450 Musical Treat. in Speculum (1935) 10 259 Þe Descaunte of þe mene shal begynne his descaunt with þe plain-song in sighte.
a1500 (a1449) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 448 With treble, mene, & tenor discordyng.
a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Aiii All trebyllys and tenours be rulyd by a meyne.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. xii. sig. Aa3 On the rocke the waues breaking aloft, A solemne Meane vnto them measured.
1611 C. Tourneur Atheist's Trag. (new ed.) iii. sig. G3v Trebles and bases make poore musick without meanes.
1616 G. Goodman Fall of Man 78 The little chirping birds..they sing a mean.
1698 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 20 302 Several Parts or Voices (as Bass, Treble, Mean, &c. sung in Consort).
1859 T. Hughes Scouring of White Horse vii. 170 Ther' wur Dick the treble and Jack the mean.
1972 K. R. Long Mus. of Eng. Church iii. 57 At this period [sc. the 16th cent.] boys' voices were thought to be of two types—meanes (or means) and trebles. The normal voice for a boy was the meane, roughly equivalent to the modern mezzo-soprano.
1991 J. Caldwell Oxf. Hist. Eng. Music I. iv. 204 The scoring is for two trebles, mean, tenor and bass.
b. The second (and sometimes the third) string or course of a viol or lute. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > stringed instruments > lute- or viol-type parts > [noun] > specific strings
minikin1541
bass1560
treble1560
mean1654
G string1831
cantino1876
1654 J. Playford Breefe Introd. Skill Musick 29 Six strings, which are usually named thus:..the second the small Meane, the third, the Great Meane, [etc.].
1668–71 M. Burwell Instr. Bk. Lute in Galpin Soc. Jrnl. 11 17 For the placing [of] the second string (or the small mean, as we call it) [etc.].
1879 W. Chappell Pop. Mus. I. 317 (note) If there were two means, as in the lute, the lower was called the greater; the upper, the lesser mean.
1980 New Grove Dict. Music XI. 874/2 Playford also stated that in his time the second and third strings of the viol were called the small and great mean.
†c. Perhaps: = natural n.1 10a. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > [noun] > natural
white note1597
natural1609
mean1675
1675 E. Cocker Morals 20 Grace..tunes Natures Harp, And makes that Note a Mean, which was a Sharp.
10.
a. Mathematics. The average of a set of numerical values, as calculated by adding them together and dividing by the number of terms in the set (= arithmetic mean at arithmetic adj. a). More generally: a quantity so related to a set of n quantities that the result of performing an operation on it n times is the same as that of combining the members of the set using the same operation. Also: †a term (or pair of terms) intermediate in position between the first and last terms of a progression (obsolete).Mean in its more general sense is now always preceded by a distinguishing adjective to indicate the particular way in which the quantity is derived. When used without a premodifier, the arithmetic mean is now always intended, in statistical use often in comparison with the median (median n.2 3) and mode (mode n. 13) of a set of data.arithmetic, geometric, harmonic mean: see the first element. See also mean proportional n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > [noun] > mean
meanc1450
medium1573
mediety1598
mediocrity1726
arithmetical mean1798
arithmetic mean1866
root-mean-square1895
mid-range1902
the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > condition of being mean or average > [noun] > mean
middlingOE
middlelOE
meanc1450
neutralityc1475
moyen1484
temper?1523
mediety1573
medium1593
temperature1598
temperament1604
intermedial1605
median1635
intermediate1650
average1737
middle term1754
mesne1821
intermediacy1836
intermediary1865
the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > distribution > measures of central tendency
meanc1450
median1784
mode1895
c1450 Art Nombryng in R. Steele Earliest Arithm. in Eng. (1922) 47 Betwix euery 2 quadrates ther is a meene proporcionalle, That is openede thus; lede the rote of o quadrat into the rote of the oþer quadrat, and þan wolle þe meene shew.
1571 T. Digges in L. Digges's Geom. Pract.: Pantometria Defs. sig. Tjv When foure magnitudes are..in continual proportion, the first & the fourth are the extremes, and the second and thirde the meanes.
1660 R. Coke Justice Vindicated 23 Nor [in harmonical proportion] do the extremes added or multiplied produce the like number with the mean.
a1690 S. Jeake Λογιστικηλογία (1696) 570 If between 2 and 54 two proportional Means be sought, the Lesser will be 6 and the Greater 18.
1709 J. Ward Young Mathematician's Guide (1734) i. vi. 73 If any Four Numbers are in Arithmetical Progression, the Sum of the Two Extreams will be Equal to the Sum of the Two Means.
1798 C. Hutton Course Math. I. 104 The sum of the extremes is equal to double the mean, which is the property of arithmeticals.
1881 J. Casey Sequel to Euclid 88 The Arithmetic mean is to the Geometric mean as the Geometric mean is to the Harmonic mean.
1953 E. Mayr et al. Methods & Princ. Systematic Zool. vii. 134 A skewed curve is a curve in which the mode..is above or below the mean.
1990 New Eng. Jrnl. Med. 8 Mar. 697/2 The mean does not have the property that half the data lie above and half below. It is the median that lies in the middle.
b. A mean average amount or value; the mean pressure, temperature, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > condition of being mean or average > [noun] > average
par1776
average1802
mean1803
normal1859
1803 S. Smith Rev. Catteau's Danois in Wks. (1850) 51 Upon a mean of twenty-six years, it has rained for a hundred and thirty days every year.
1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall: Mines & Miners 182 The temperature of the adit..is on an average more than 12° above the mean of the climate.
1893 W. L. Dallas in Indian Meteorol. Mem. 4 516 The means of pressure have been obtained [etc.].
1954 J. Rhodin Correlation Ultrastruct. Organization & Function in Tubule Cells Mouse Kidney ii. 21 The number, size and shape of the microbodies varies from cell to cell with a mean of about 10 in each cell.
1993 K. S. Robinson Green Mars (new ed.) 189 Sax in his own modelling had always aimed to reach a mean of about 274°K, figuring that with this as the average, the planet would be warm enough..to create an active hydrosphere.
†11. Grammar. The ‘middle’ form or voice of a verb. Cf. mean adj.2 5. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > verb > [noun] > reflexive verb
mean1530
reciprocal1635
reflexive1867
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement Introd. 35 All whiche differences of conjugation betwene the actyve verbes and theyr meanes I declare at length in my seconde boke.
†12. in the mean: in the meantime. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > [adverb] > meanwhile
all the whilec888
to whilec950
the whilec960
amongOE
emethena1300
to whilesa1300
therewhilesc1320
that whilesc1330
i-whilesa1340
in (that, this, which, etc.) meantime1340
in the meanwhilea1375
(all) the (also this, that) meantimea1382
in the mean season (also space)a1382
the mean seasona1382
the meanwhilea1382
in the meantimec1384
for the meanwhilec1390
in the mean(s) whilesc1390
the whilesa1400
the whilsta1400
whilsta1400
(in) the meanwhile that?1418
therewhilec1430
mesne1439
meanwhile1440
for the meantime1480
while1508
in the while1542
in the mean1565
in the mean way1569
interim1580
in (that, this, which, etc.) meanwhilea1593
meantimea1593
this while1594
mean space1600
among-hands?1609
between (betwixt obsolete or archaic) whiles1647
ad interim1701
per interim1724
interimistically1890
1565 T. Stapleton tr. Bede Hist. Church Eng. i. xix. f. 27 In the meane suffering no remedies to be applied vnto his owne infirmities.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. i. sig. N7 In the meane vouchsafe her honorable toombe.
a1657 R. Loveday Lett. (1663) 193* In the mean, I shall..read over your Translation with the Originall.
1693 B. Hawkshaw tr. Tibullus Elegies iv. iii, in Poems 116 But in the mean, my Boy, give o're that Game.
†13. Logic. The middle term of a syllogism. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > [noun] > middle term
medium1587
mean1599
middle term1605
argument1724
middle1826
1599 T. Blundeville Art of Logike 119 The Maior tearme, and..the meane or proofe, being both ioyned together in one selfe proposition.
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Oo1v It is in proofe by Syllogisme: For the proofe being not immediate but by meane: the Inuention of the Meane is one thinge [etc.] . View more context for this quotation
†14. The central part of something. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > central condition or position > [noun] > central part
midmostc1384
middlemosta1425
mean1688
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 79/1 This leaf is..heart-like in the mean, or part next the stalk.

Phrases

Forming complex adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions (mainly reflecting sense 3).
P1. by (also †through) (†the) means (also †mean) of [compare Anglo-Norman par mene de (13th cent.), Middle French par le moyen de (15th cent.).]
a. By the agency or instrumentality of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > by the instrumentality of [phrase]
in virtue ofa1250
by (also with) strength of1340
by the virtue ofa1375
by way ofa1393
by (also through) (the) means (also mean) ofa1398
by remedy ofa1398
by force of1411
by feat of1489
by (occasionally through) the benefit ofa1538
in the way of1622
by the way of1623
by (the) dint of1664
by the force of1697
perforce of1714
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 309v Malancoly, þat is blak, by mene of vnkynde colera þat is rusty [L. eruginosa] and grenysch.
a1402 J. Trevisa tr. R. Fitzralph Defensio Curatorum (Harl.) (1925) 75 (MED) Þese priuyleges were procured by mene of þe dedliche synnes.
1427 Rolls of Parl. IV. 326/2 Hit belanged unto you of rygȝt, as wel be ye mene of your birth.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin 20 Thow purchacest a-corde be-twene the and thi husbonde, by mene of the person hym-self, for to hyde yowre counseill.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 611/2 Se how moche this chambre is lyghtenned by meane of one torche.
1530 R. Whitford Werke for Housholders (new ed.) sig. Cii Many persones..put them selfe subiecte vnto the false god the deuyll..to gette helthe vnlawfully by the maenes of that wyttchraftes forboden by the chirche.
1560 A. L. in tr. J. Calvin Serm. Songe Ezechias Epist. By meane of whose aide..he findeth himselfe holpen.
1611 Bible (King James) Heb. ix. 15 By meanes of death..they which are called, might receiue the promise of eternall inheritance. View more context for this quotation
1653 Ld. Vaux tr. A. Godeau Life St. Paul sig. Aij Having obtained by meanes of your most noble Lady, a view of this choise piece [etc.].
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. i. ii. 32 I know not, that we have any one Kind..of Enjoyment, but by the means of our own Actions.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. viii. xiii. 271 He had succeeded so far as to find me out by Means of an Accident. View more context for this quotation
1807 M. R. Mitford in A. G. L'Estrange Life M. R. Mitford (1870) I. 67 I hoped that through his means you would get acquainted with Walter Scott.
1860 R. Fowler Med. Vocab. Mono-ideism, that artificially induced condition in which the acts of the mind, sensation, and motion, may be completely governed by means of suggestive ideas.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 236/1 The connexion is not made directly, but translation is secured by means of an induction coil.
1993 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Mar. 119/1 By means of animal sacrifices, Santeria is sometimes used to rid people of evil spirits that possess them.
†b. In consequence of, by reason of, owing to. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > effect, result, or consequence > [adverb] > as a consequence of
by (also through) (the) means (also mean) of1439
in sequence ofa1648
in sequel to1895
1439 Rolls of Parl. V. 32/2 Hynderyng..of the said diverse of your Communes, be mene of the said purvyance.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 99 (MED) Israell has vnder law his awne son in his awe By menys of his mercy.
a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Ei That was by the menys of to moche lyberte.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. I. vii. 151 He also amended many things..that had beene long time out of frame, by meane of the Danes.
1626 F. Bacon New Atlantis 9 in Sylua Syluarum By meanes of our solitary Situation..we know well most part of the Habitable World, and are our selues vnknowne.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 320/2 By means of this cover he is very rarely wet on his Body.
1726 Four Years Voy. Capt. G. Roberts 13 He could not yet hold a Pen in his Hand by means of his late Sickness.
P2. by no (manner of) means (also †mean) also by no manner mean.
a. In no way, not at all.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > small of quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > not at all
never-a-dealc1250
no dealc1250
not a dealc1250
no grue13..
not a (one) grue13..
for no (kin) meedc1330
in (also by and without preposition) no mannerc1330
nothing like?a1425
by no (manner of) means (also mean)c1440
at no handa1500
never, not (etc.) a whit (awhit, a-whit)1523
not a quincha1566
by leisure1590
c1440 S. Scrope tr. C. de Pisan Epist. of Othea (St. John's Cambr.) (1970) 19 Appollo..be no mene may noon ordure Suffre no wise vnder couerture.
1442 T. Bekington Let. in G. Williams Mem. Reign Henry VI (1872) II. 214 (MED) Your said adversary by no manner of meen may be induced to graunte us his lettres of saufcondeuct.
1470 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 553 I can not yet make my pesse wyth my lord of Norffolk..by no meane.
?c1500 J. Blount tr. N. Upton Essent. Portions De Studio Militari (1931) 22 And yff so be the forsayde battes or scheldes be broken, by noo meenys they schall have eny other geven them agayne.
?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth xxv. f. 33v This towne coude by no meanes be well besyged nor taken.
1564 Briefe Exam. ****ij They are not to be reiected, as yf they were by no maner of meanes in the worde of God.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia V. ix. iv. 64 I am by no means an approver of that mode of proceeding.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan 119 ‘Is he, or is he not, a blockhead?’ ‘By no manner of means.’—‘Pho; talk English, will you!’—‘By no means; that'll do, I hope.’—‘Yes; proceed.’
1849 H. Alford Greek Test. I. Prol. 45 Those who carried on the by no means despised or ungainful business of fishermen.
1893 A. C. Swinburne Stud. Prose & Poetry (1894) 111 Basil is by no manner of means an impeccable work of imperishable art.
1930 W. Lindrum Billiards viii. 60 It is by no means easy to predict just where you want red to be for your positional pot.
1980 W. Abish How German is It? iii. iii. 69 Of course the Pflaume was by no means the only decent restaurant in the area.
b. On no account, under no circumstances.
ΚΠ
1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. cxxxv And if hir husbonde to any thynge agre By no maner mean wyll she therto inclyne.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. iii. 161 They will by no meanes vouchsafe to marie their daughters vnto them.
1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 278 But these to be, by no Meanes, set too thicke.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 51. ⁋1 Such an Image as this ought, by no means, to be presented to a Chaste and Regular Audience.
1777 D. Garrick Let. 31 Aug. (1963) III. 1185 By no means let them go on purpose, It might distress Sr Thomas & not forward the business.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan 235 ‘Shall I wake the family?’ ‘No, no—by no manner of means.’ ‘By no means—dead, or alive.’
1864 J. H. Newman Apologia 35 What word should I have used twenty years ago instead of ‘Protestant’? ‘Roman’ or ‘Romish’? by no manner of means.
1879 M. Arnold Falkland in Mixed Ess. 232 Shall we blame him for his lucidity of mind, and largeness of temper? By no means.
1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage lxxiii. 376 She was by no means to alter any plans she had made.
1990 J. M. Coetzee Age of Iron ii. 74 It is a great pity when we find ourselves entering upon times like those..they are by no means to be welcomed.
P3. by this (also that) means (also †mean) [compare Middle French par ce moyen (late 15th cent.).]
a. Through the agency or instrumentality of this or that; in this or that way; thus.
ΚΠ
1465 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 139 Neuirthelesse it shall do good so he leve his bargeyn by this meane.
?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth lxv. f. 90 By this meanes shall they be moche beholden to you.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 11 That he might preferre Normanes to the rule of the Church,..and by that meane stand in the more suretie of his estate.
1629 tr. Herodian Hist. (1635) 372 By that meanes you shall take away that most odious and hideous tyrant Maximine.
1667 T. Sprat Hist. Royal-Soc. 100 By this means, they will accomplish their main Design.
1750 W. Beawes Lex Mercatoria (1752) 1 When by this means an aggregated number swelled to too great a magnitude..they were compelled to seek for remoter helps by commerce.
1825 S. T. Coleridge Aids Refl. 37 By this mean, and scarcely without it, you will at length acquire a facility in detecting the quid pro quo.
1889 G. M. Hopkins Exper. Sci. xii. 271 The accuracy with which the solar time may be indicated by this means will depend on the exactness with which the plane of polarization can be determined.
1910 Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 207/2 The electricity furnished by this means serves to light the house.
1991 Jrnl. Southern Afr. Stud. 17 407 Even an estimate of how many children were legitimated by this means is impossible to discover without extensive research.
†b. In consequence; consequently. Obsolete (regional in later use).
ΚΠ
?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth xxx. f. 42v Because Iugurth was on the small hyll before hym and by that meane on the hyer grounde.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iv. xliv. 335 That [as the doctrine of the Fourth Lateran Council states] if a King at the Popes admonition, doe not purge his Kingdome of Hæresies, and being excommunicate for the same, doe not give satisfaction within a year, his Subjects are absolved of the bond of their obedience... And by this means, as often as there is any repugnancy between the Politicall designes of the Pope, and other Christian Princes..there ariseth such a Mist amongst their subjects, [etc.].
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 14 It rain'd, and by that means she couldn't come.
P4. by any (manner of) means (also †mean).
a. In any way; at all. In later use frequently in negative constructions.
ΚΠ
1474 Rolls of Parl. VI. 117/2 Undelyvered by any meane unto you.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xii. l. 207 A band thai maid..to wyrk his confusion Be ony meyn.
?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth xxxiii. f. xlviv He loost more people by this way thanne by any other meanesse before.
1537 in T. Wright Three Chapters Lett. Suppression Monasteries (1843) 153 In as large and ample maner and forme as ever I had or aught to have of and in the same or any part or parcell therof by ony maner of meanes.
1567 J. Sanford tr. Epictetus Man. 24 Occasion cannot be giuen by any maner of meanes, nor any arte.
1611 Bible (King James) Psalms xlix. 7 None of them can by any meanes redeeme his brother. View more context for this quotation
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Milk Where not the least Mote of any Filth may by any means appear.
1798 Brit. Critic 11 34 The Turcoman nymphs there spoken of, are not, by any means, the damsels of the country we now denominate Turkey.
1812 W. Irving Hist. N.Y. (ed. 2) II. v. iii. 21 I do not by any means pretend to claim the merit.
1874 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera IV. xlv. 193 Not by any manner of means.
1893 R. Williams in H. D. Traill Soc. Eng. i. 32 She was not, however, by any means the only female deity.
1940 Nature 21 Dec. 796/1 Even under modern conditions cheese-making is not by any means a fully controlled industrial process.
1974 Bookseller 22 June 2770/1 Hardly a week goes by without news breaking of another book about or by the Churchill family, and I am not denigrating such things by any manner of means.
1995 K. Ishiguro Unconsoled iv. 46 I don't mean I've slept with them all. Not by any means!
†b. At any cost, without fail. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist v. iv. sig. Mv Yes, tell her, She must by any meanes, addresse some present To th' Cunning man. View more context for this quotation
1631 B. Jonson Divell is Asse v. viii. 14 in Wks. II Mer. Yes, Sir, and send for his wife. Eve. And the two Sorcerers, By any meanes!
P5. by all (manner of) means (also †by all manner means) [compare Middle French par tous moyens (a1544)] : at any cost, without fail (now rare); in every possible way; certainly, assuredly.In later use (as in quot. 1693, etc.) often functioning as an interjection, emphasizing permission, agreement, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > assured fact, certainty > making certain, assurance > of course, certainly [phrase] > responding to request
by all (manner of) means1491
1472–3 Rolls of Parl. VI. 39/1 Ye verraily entend..to areyde youre self by all measnes..to..passe with an Arme roiall to the parties outward.]
1491 Act 7 Hen. VII c. 11 §1 Ye verily intendyng..to aredie yourself by all meanes to you possible..to invade upon your and our auncien ennemyes.
?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth xl. f. 56 He..by all maner meanes made prouysion for hymselfe.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 129 To this end thay labouret be al meines possible.
1611 Bible (King James) Acts xviii. 21 I must by all meanes keepe this feast. View more context for this quotation
1693 Humours & Conversat. Town 31 By all means, Sir, Object and Return, as often as you please.
1754 Earl of Chatham Lett. to Nephew (1804) 35 The trick of laughing frivolously is by all means to be avoided.
a1777 S. Foote Cozeners (1778) ii. 42 Flaw. I'll run before, and prepare Mrs. Fleece'em. Mrs. Air. By all manner of means.
1844 B. Disraeli Coningsby I. iii. iii. 273 Tell it us by all means.
1874 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera IV. xlii. 125 Yes, in God's name, and by all manner of means.
1895 Law Times 100 101/2 By all means let the [County] Council drift rudderless.
1955 A. Huxley Let. 4 Apr. (1969) 739 Yes, by all means let us take a picnic basket so that we can be independent of restaurants.
1996 F. Popcorn & L. Marigold Clicking iii. 429 If you have a good product, yet are done in by a badly run company, by all means, try again.
†P6. by (the) means (also mean) (that): for the reason that, because, since. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > cause or reason > [phrase] > for that reason or because of that or inasmuch as
in thatc1175
for as mickle asc1390
in as (also so) mickle (as)c1390
in that thatc1450
by (the) means (also mean) (that)1549
by and by1565
in regard1600
in that (also this) view1688
1549 R. Crowley Voyce Laste Trumpet sig. Civv White meate beareth a greate price Which some men thinke is by the meane That fermes be found such marchadice.
1589 J. Sparke in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations iii. 529 But sure we were that the armie was come downe, by meanes that in the euening we sawe such a monstrous fire.
1596 J. Harington Apol. sig. Bb8 I guessed at his meaning, by meanes I had once some smattering of the Latin tonge.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 394 The gut bursten, and flanke bursten, doth proceed both of one cause, that is to say, by meanes that the skinne, called before Peritoneum, is either sore strained, or else broken.
a1612 J. Harington Let. in Nugæ Antiquæ (1769) I. 35 By means the weather falls out so monstrous wet as the like hath not been seen.
†P7. by some manner of means: by one method or another; somehow or other. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > by the instrumentality of [phrase] > by any means
by hook or (also and) by crookc1380
in any casea1398
by some manner of means1580
at any rate1601
per fas et nefas1602
somehow or another1664
somehow or other1664
at all rates1667
1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 37 Friend, harrow in time, by some maner of meanes, not onely thy peason, but also thy beanes.

Compounds

Chiefly with the plural means.
C1. General attributive.
† means-maker n. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1640 T. Fuller Joseph's Coat 172 Looke not..on the meanes, but on the Meanes-maker.
† means-using n. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 146 What, but our ascribing to ourselves in our means-using, makes them so unfruitful?
C2.
† mean-keeper n. Obsolete rare a person who behaves moderately or pursues a moderate course of action.
ΚΠ
1556 N. Grimald tr. Cicero Thre Bks. Duties ii. f. 86 Soone after, Lucius Crassus, with Quintus Mutius, the greatest meanekeper [L. moderatissimo] of all men, kept the time of their Edile office most royally.
† mean-keeping n. Obsolete rare moderation.
ΚΠ
1556 N. Grimald tr. Cicero Thre Bks. Duties i. f. 55v In which thinges ther must doutlesse be vsed a measure, that to a meankeping [L. ad mediocritatem] must bee reduced.
† means-making n. Obsolete intercession; use of interest or influence on a person's behalf (cf. sense 5).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > intercession or influence on someone's behalf > [noun]
erndinga1000
mediationa1387
advocacyc1390
mediacya1425
meanc1450
moyen1454
interposition1462
mean1465
myance?a1513
advocation1532
intercession1534
advocateship?1555
intercessionment1593
interceding1600
intermise1612
means-making1617
intermission1647
interposal1687
spoke1867
1617 F. Bacon Speech on taking Place in Chancery in Resuscitatio 84 It will also avoid all Means-making, or Labouring; For there ought to be no Labouring in Causes but the Labouring of the Counsell at the Barr.
1625 F. Bacon Apophthegmes §8. 19 His wife, by her suite, and means making, made his peace.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

meann.4

Brit. /miːn/, U.S. /min/
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: mean adj.1
Etymology: < mean adj.1 (conpare sense 5 at that entry). Compare meanie n.
colloquial. rare.
A mean person; = meanie n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [noun] > niggard or mean person
nithinga1225
chinch?a1300
nigc1300
chincher1333
shut-purse1340
niggardc1384
haynec1386
nigona1400
pinchera1425
pinchpenny?c1425
pynepenya1450
pelt1511
chincherda1529
churl1535
pinchbeck1538
carl?1542
penny-father1549
nipfarthing1566
nipper?1573
holdfast1576
pinchpence1577
pinch fistc1580
pinchfart1592
shit-sticks1598
clunchfist1606
puckfist1606
sharp-nose1611
spare-good1611
crib1622
hog grubber?1626
dry-fist1633
clusterfist1652
niggardling1654
frummer1659
scrat1699
sting-hum1699
nipcheese1785
pincha1825
screw1825
wire-drawer1828
close-fist1861
penny-pincher1875
nip-skin1876
parer1887
pinch-plum1892
cheapskate1899
meanie1902
tightwad1906
stinge1914
penny-peeler1925
mean1938
stiff1967
1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart ii. iv. 241 You are a mean, Dickie!
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

meanadj.1

Brit. /miːn/, U.S. /min/
Forms: Old English–early Middle English mæne, Middle English meen, Middle English meene, Middle English mene, Middle English meyn, Middle English meyne, Middle English–1600s meane, Middle English– mean; English regional 1800s– meean (Yorkshire), 1800s– meeon (Yorkshire), 1800s– myen (Oxfordshire); Scottish pre-1700 mayne, pre-1700 meane, pre-1700 meen, pre-1700 meine, pre-1700 men, pre-1700 meyn, pre-1700 min, pre-1700 1700s– mean, pre-1700 1700s– mein, pre-1700 1800s mene, pre-1700 1800s– main; also Irish English (northern) 1900s– main, 1900s– mane.
Origin: A variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: i-mene adj.
Etymology: Aphetic < i-mene adj. Compare Old Frisian mēne shared, common (West Frisian mien).In Old English (and in the earlier stages of other Germanic languages) substantially the only sense of i-mene adj. and its cognates was ‘possessed jointly’, ‘belonging equally to a number of persons’; however, already in Old English there existed a spec. sense ‘of ecclesiastical orders: minor, inferior in degree’, which, although it did not survive into Middle English, may have informed the development of mean . The semantic development shown by the Old English spec. sense of i-mene adj. was carried further with Middle English mene , mean (as with Dutch gemeen and German gemein ; compare common adj.), so that the word acquired the general senses of ‘ordinary’, ‘not exceptionally good’, ‘inferior’. In English this development was aided by the fact that the native word coincided in form with mean adj.2, which was often used in a disparaging or reproachful sense. The uses in branch II. might be referred almost equally well to the native or to the foreign adjective; the truth is probably that the meanings of two originally quite distinct words have merged. It has sometimes been supposed that the sense development of the word has been influenced by Old English mǣne false, wicked (cognate with man n.2 and man adj.); but this seems unlikely, as this adjective did not survive into Middle English, while the moral senses of mean only appear in modern English.
I. Held commonly or jointly.
1. Common to two or more persons or things; possessed jointly. in mean: in common. to go mean: to act as partners, to share. Now rare (Scottish and English regional) (northern).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > sharing > [adjective] > shared
i-menec1000
meanOE
ymonec1275
commonc1300
communicant?a1425
joint1424
communicate1561
shared1598
meta1631
intercommoneda1774
participate1850
OE Bounds (Sawyer 879) in P. H. Sawyer Charters of Burton Abbey (1979) 43 Swa forð andlangas þæs broces forð þæt hit cymð to hryxies mæne weig.
lOE Bounds (Sawyer 444) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1887) II. 444 Of langan leage to mænan leage, of menan leage, to wines heafdan.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 179 (MED) Al þat hie bi ben, hie hauen of here [sc. underlings] mene swinche.
c1225 (?c1200) Sawles Warde (Bodl.) (1938) 32 (MED) Sei us nu hwuch blisse is to alle iliche meane.
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 277 (MED) Þa ilke þinges..beon to alle men o liue iliche meane.
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) xiii. 59 Þai hald a lawe in meen betwene vs and þe Grekez.
a1628 J. Carmichaell Coll. Prov. in Scots (1957) No. 132 A mein pot plaid never even.
1674 Forbes Baron Court Bk. in Publ. Sc. Hist. Soc. (1919) 2nd Ser. 19 297 In speciall for bigging of keill ȝaird dykis quhar they are in mein dykis and fold dyk.
1730 P. Walkden Diary 20 Jan. (1866) (modernized text) 94 That we would go mean at ploughing.
1756 Session Papers in Sc. National Dict. (1965) VI. (at cited word) The mean Gavel betwixt the contending Parties.
1876 A. Laing Lindores Abbey 301 The cottar-folk [in the late 18th cent.], who were unable to have a whole web of their own, joined together for a warp, and each had their own weft woven on it. This was called a mein, or common web.
1900 W. Dickinson & E. W. Prevost Gloss. Dial. Cumberland 380/1 At times it is only a part of a field that is in mean, it is then marked off from the rest by meerstones..or by reans.
II. Inferior in rank or quality; unpleasant.
2. Of a person or body of people, a person's condition, etc. (In early use frequently in the comparative.)
a. Of low social status; spec. not of the nobility or gentry. Cf. common adj. 11. Now rare except in the superlative (chiefly hyperbolically), as the meanest ——.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > [adjective]
leasteOE
wokec897
littleOE
lowc1175
eathlyc1200
smallc1275
simplec1300
meana1375
humblec1386
ignoble1447
servile1447
base1490
slighta1500
sober1533
silly1568
unresponsal1579
dunghilled1600
villainous1607
without name1611
woollena1616
dunghilly1616
unresponsible1629
under-stateda1661
low-down1865
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 1937 (MED) Þe grete..in þe gaiest wise, & menere men as þei miȝt.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 13272 Nu ches felaus wil he bigin, Bot noght o riche kinges kin,..Bot mene men o pour lijf.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. 10976 Þe legate & oþer bisshopes of mener state.
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) x. 24 Therfor my fayre doughters shewe youre curtosye vnto the mene and smal peple.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 154 The Commons (specially such as were of the meaner sort) cryed vpon Thomas fitz Thomas.
1587 J. Hooker Chron. Ireland 128/1 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) II The opinion..and iudgement of a meane burgesse, is of as great auaile as is the best lords.
1600 T. Dekker Shomakers Holiday sig. C2 O loue, how powerfull art thou, that canst change..a noble mind, To the meane semblance of a shooemaker?
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) ii. v. 83 These hands do lacke Nobility, that they strike A meaner then my selfe. View more context for this quotation
a1626 F. Bacon Christian Paradoxes in Wks. (1879) I. 341 He bears a lofty spirit in a mean condition.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1675 (1955) IV. 56 Sir Will: being the sonn of a meane man some where in Sussex.
1701 D. Defoe True-born Englishman ii. 39 The meanest English Plowman studies Law.
1774 in Lett. Ld. Chesterfield (1792) I. xliv. 141 A mean fellow..is ashamed when he comes into good company.
1827 O. W. Roberts Narr. Voy. Central Amer. 225 The meanest persons smoke tobacco.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles I. xvi. 206 The irresistible, universal, automatic tendency to find sweet pleasure somewhere, which pervades all life, from the meanest to the highest.
1959 Chambers's Encycl. IX. 747/1 The poorest and meanest tribesman had equal right with the proudest to voice his opinion.
1991 R. Cecil Masks of Death (BNC) 16 Even the meanest clerk expected to employ at least a resident maid-of-all-work.
b. Inferior in ability, learning, perception, etc. Now chiefly in the superlative and as in sense 4.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > [adjective]
unwittyc1000
heartlessa1382
meana1387
conceitless?c1425
insensuat1508
insensate1528
insensible?1531
miskenning1533
unsensible1560
witless1562
unfraught1587
unconceiving1593
stupid1595
small-knowing1598
surd1601
ununderstanding1611
unapprehensible1613
unperceiving?1623
unapprehensive1624
inapprehending1652
incomprehensive1652
inapprehensive1653
impenetrative1684
blind1692
uncomprehensive1694
unpenetrating1701
unmeaning1704
vacant1712
gilly-gaupus1754
unacute1775
unapprehending1794
unpenetrative1795
unwitted1828
uncomprehending1838
irrecognizant1845
vacuous1848
incomprehending1881
mush-headed1884
wantwit1894
doofus1967
acerebral1968
brain-dead1972
goofus1981
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [adjective] > in ability
meana1387
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 93 Þe comyn lettre of Mathew is ful skars, for mene men myȝte vnderstonde.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xiv. 166 (MED) Alle myȝtest þow haue made none mener þan other And yliche witty & wyse.
1444 Rolls of Parl. V. 112/2 A maister Tyler or Sclatter, rough Mason and meen Carpenter.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) xiii. Direct. 53 Na meyn endyte, nor empty wordis vayn.
1590 J. Stockwood Eng. Accidence sig. Aiv Most cleare and easie for the capacitie of the verie meanest.
1621 R. Brathwait Natures Embassie Ded. sig. A2 The meanest Menalchas that is able to play vpon an oaten pipe.
1678 (title) Cockers Arithmetick, being a plain and familiar Method suitable to the meanest capacity.
1711 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1889) III. 133 A mean man, and..altogether unqualify'd for a Critick.
1719 F. Hare Church-authority Vindicated 39 Many [parts of Scripture] are plain and easy to the meanest understanding.
1738 D. Neal Hist. Puritans IV. 347 Most of them were very mean Divines.
1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 248 To render the subject comprehensible to the meanest capacity.
1893 W. Forbes-Mitchell Reminisc. Great Mutiny 26 It was clear as noonday to the meanest capacity.
1922 D. B. Updike Printing Types I. ii. 32 It [sc. the point system] placed type sizes upon a basis comprehensible to the meanest intelligence.
1993 K. McCallum Driven by Love (BNC) ‘Now don't tell me you're surprised?’ But it was obvious to even the meanest intelligence that surprise was the least descriptive word to be applied to her.
†c. Poor, badly off. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > [adjective] > poor
havelessOE
unrichOE
waedlec1000
armOE
nakedOE
helplessc1175
wantsomec1175
poora1200
barec1220
needfula1225
misease?c1225
unwealya1300
needyc1325
feeblec1330
poorful1372
mischievousc1390
miseasedc1390
indigentc1400
meanc1400
naughtyc1400
succourless1412
unwealthyc1412
behove1413
misterousa1425
misterfulc1480
miserablec1485
beggarly1545
starved1563
threadbare1577
penurious1590
fortuneless1596
wealthless1605
wantful1607
necessitous1611
inopulent1613
titheless1615
egene1631
starveling1638
necessitated1646
inopious1656
parsimonious1782
unopulent1782
lacking1805
bushed1819
obolary1820
ill-to-do1853
down at heel1856
po'1866
needsome1870
down-at-heeled1884
rocky1921
c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. Prol. 18 Alle maner of men, þe mene & þe riche.
1558 in J. Strype Ann. Reformation (1709) I. App. iv. 5 Of..Men meaner in substance.
1686 J. Bunyan Bk. for Boys & Girls 1 Thou shalt not steal, though thou be very mean.
a1707 S. Patrick Auto-biogr. (1839) 11 My father was so mean then, he could not otherwise maintain me.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. xi. 191 The circumstances of gardeners, generally mean, and always moderate. View more context for this quotation
d. Of a political body, authority, etc.: weak; comparatively powerless. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > [adjective] > powerless or helpless
mightlessOE
powerlessc1425
impotent1444
mean1525
unpuissant1568
moyenless1599
aidless1608
impuissant1629
paralytic1642
adynamous1656
impotentiala1657
enervous1677
numb1802
fucked1949
dickless1957
1525 Bp. J. Clerk in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. I. 309 Ther shold be fownd manye ryght mean powars in Italy that wold plume his fethers,..specially the Venetians; off whom his Holynes ought of all men to be ware, for ther powar shold gretly incresse by this ways.
1579 G. Fenton tr. F. Guicciardini Hist. Guicciardin i. 3 The league..was..renewed in the yeare 1480. for xxv. yeares, being competitors & parties therin almost all the meaner Potentates of Italy.
1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Deuteronomie xxvii. 163 He forewarneth vs here to make any vndergods or meane gods.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall II. xx. 200 He should have refused his assent to any meaner authority.
1786 P. M. Freneau Poems 164 A ship of such a gallant mien This many a day I have not seen, To no mean power can she belong.
†e. Abject or debased. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > degrading or debasement > [adjective] > degraded
degraded1483
debased1593
sunk1618
hang-dog1677
meanc1680
unpedestalled1823
vilified1828
disrated1891
c1680 W. Beveridge Serm. (1729) II. 547 Our frail and mean condition..requires us to pray always.
f. U.S. colloquial. In low spirits; unwell or in a poor state of health.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased
untrumc825
sickc888
unwholec888
slackc897
unstronga900
sicklea1000
sam-halea1023
worseOE
attaint1303
languishinga1325
heallessc1374
sicklyc1374
sicklewa1387
bada1393
mishalea1400
languoring?c1425
distempered1440
unwell?c1450
detent?a1475
poora1475
languorousc1475
maladif1481
illa1500
maladiousc1500
wanthriven1508
attainted1509
unsound1513
acrazed1521
cracked1527
unsoundya1529
visited1537
infirmed1552
crazed1555
healthless1568
ill-liking1572
afflicted1574
crazy1576
unhealthful1580
sickish1581
valetudinary1581
not well1587
fainty1590
ill-disposed1596
unhealthsome1598
tainted1600
ill-affected1604
peaking1611
unhealthy1611
infirmited1616
disaffected1626
physical1633
illish1637
pimping1640
invalid1642
misaffected1645
valetudinarious1648
unhale1653
badly1654
unwholesome1655
valetudinous1655
morbulent1656
off the hooksa1658
mawkish1668
morbid1668
unthriven1680
unsane1690
ailing1716
not wellish1737
underlya1742
poorly1750
indifferent1753
comical1755
maladized1790
sober1808
sickened1815
broken-down1816
peaky1821
poorlyish1827
souffrante1827
run-down1831
sicklied1835
addle1844
shaky1844
mean1845
dauncy1846
stricken1846
peakyish1853
po'ly1860
pindling1861
rough1882
rocky1883
suffering1885
wabbit1895
icky-boo1920
like death warmed up1924
icky1938
ropy1945
crappy1956
hanging1971
sick as a parrot1982
shite1987
1845 Amer. Whig Rev. Dec. 648/2 [Tobacco] made me feel mean, look mean, and very probably act mean;..made me low-spirited, and, at times, very dejected.
1857 ‘Dow, Jr.’ Patent Serm. 1st Ser. 7 As mean..as a rooster in a thundershower.
1911 H. S. Harrison Queed vii. 90 Mebbe you could do better writing and harder writing if only you didn't feel so mean.
1911 J. F. Wilson Land Claimers i. 21 ‘Feel pretty mean,’ the packer asked him kindly.
1976 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1996) III. 555/1 Mean, not well, ill. ‘He jist felt mean, ya know.’
3. Of a thing, an animal, etc.
a. Poor in quality or condition; of little value; inferior; (of weather) unpleasant, disagreeable (chiefly North American).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > wretchedness > [adjective]
unledeeOE
sorryOE
evila1131
usellc1175
wanlichec1275
bad1276
sorry1372
meana1375
caitiff1393
loddera1400
woefula1400
foulc1400
wretched1450
meschant?1473
unselc1480
peevisha1522
miser1542
scurvy?1577
forlorn1582
villainous1582
measled1596
lamented1611
thrallfula1618
despicable1635
deplorable1642
so-and-so1656
poorish1657
squalida1660
lamentable1676
mesquina1706
shan1714
execrable1738
quisby1807
hole in the wall1822
measly1847
bum1878
shag-bag1888
snidey1890
pathetic1900
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 4512 (MED) Þow makes me now but þis mene semblant..to litel þow me knowest or kinhed me kiþes.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. vi. 185 (MED) Lete hem ete..benes and bren..Or elles melke and mene ale.
a1475 in F. J. Furnivall Jyl of Breyntford's Test. (1871) 29 (MED) The secund wyffe sett her nere, And seyd, ‘by the rode, I haue a ware That is two so mene.’
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) v. xii. 47 From distructioun delyvir and outscrape Thir sobir trumpys and meyn graith of Troianys.
1630 in R. S. France Thieveley Lead Mines (1951) 67 Yt hath cost him much money, and his estate is very meane to support it.
1681 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ (ed. 3) xii. 260 Although the Bream be esteem'd as a mean Fish.
1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. vii. 177 The Fortifications were very mean to endure a form'd Siege.
1742 D. Hume Ess. Moral & Polit. II. x. 181 Where Women..are bought and sold, like the meanest Animal.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth II. 9 As to animals of a meaner rank..they very soon alter their natures with the nature of their nourishment.
1823 W. Faux Mem. Days Amer. 219 The horses here are nearly all mean,..dwarfish things.
1842 C. M. Kirkland Forest Life I. xiv. 140 You've had a pretty mean time, I reckon.
a1890 in A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang (1890) II. 49/1 The night was dark and stormy, about as mean a night as was ever experienced in Washington.
1936 G. Ade Let. 29 Apr. (1973) 192 We arrived home on the 17th without mishap and almost immediately ran into mean weather including one snow fall which completely covered the ground.
1987 New Yorker 14 Dec. 33/1 It was cold and mean out.
b. Petty, insignificant, unimportant; inconsiderable. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > of little importance or trivial
eathlyc890
lighteOE
littleOE
small?c1225
singlec1449
easy1474
triflous1509
naughty1526
slender1530
slight1548
shrimpish1549
slipper1567
truanta1572
toyous1581
trivious1583
mean1585
silly1587
nicea1594
puny?1594
puisne1598
pusill1599
whindling1601
sapless1602
non-significant1603
poor1603
unsignificant1603
flea-bite1605
perishing1605
lank1607
weightless1610
fonda1616
penny farthing1615
triviala1616
unweighty1621
transitory1637
twattling1651
inconsiderate1655
unserious1655
nugal1656
small drink1656
slighty1662
minute1668
paddling1679
snitling1682
retail1697
Lilliputian1726
vain1731
rattletrap1760
peppercornish1762
peppercorn1791
underling1804
venial1806
lightweight1809
floccinaucical1826
small-bore1833
minified1837
trantlum1838
piffling1848
tea-tabular1855
potty1860
whipping-snapping1861
tea-gardeny1862
quiddling1863
twaddling1863
fidgeting1865
penny ante1865
feather-weighted1870
jerkwater1877
midget1879
mimsy1880
shirttail1881
two-by-four1885
footle1894
skittery1905
footery1929
Mickey Mouse1931
chickenshit1934
minoritized1945
marginal1952
marginalized1961
tea-party1961
little league1962
marginalizing1977
minnowy1991
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > small or trifling in amount or degree
eathlyc890
littleOE
slender1530
foolish1533
triflinga1538
paltry1565
puny?1594
mean1599
minikin1617
unconsiderable1643
inconsiderable1648
punctilio1660
sneaking1703
insignificant1748
flimsy1756
peppercornish1762
peppercorn1791
microscopic1798
pindling1861
midget1879
diddly1893
scroddyc1909
chickenshit1934
?c1430 (c1400) [implied in: J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 31 He þat leueþ þe more good..synneþ not menely but gruously. (at meanly adv.2 1)].
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie ii. viii. 41 Foure other officers..to looke vnto the old and new buildings, and other meane & pollitike affayres [Fr. et autres menuz affaires politiques].
1599 Warning for Faire Women ii. 1510 For such a fault too meane a recompence.
1692 R. Bentley Boyle Lect. iv. 34 The meanest Plant cannot be raised without seed by any formative power residing in the Soil.
1726 J. Leoni Life Alberti in tr. L. B. Alberti Archit. 2 He cou'd discourse..of common and mean things with..pleasantness.
1727 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman II. ii. iii. 94 The Cyder Trade may perhaps be thought a trifle, too mean to mention here.
a1771 T. Gray Ode in W. Mason Mem. Life & Writings (1775) 237 The meanest floweret of the vale.
1807 W. Wordsworth Ode in Poems II. 158 The meanest flower that blows. View more context for this quotation
c. Undignified, low. Of literary style, etc.: lacking in elevation or adornment; unambitious (not always with depreciative connotations). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > bad taste > unseemliness or unbecomingness > [adjective] > undignified
meanc1450
undignified1782
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > plainness > [adjective]
nakedOE
simplea1382
meanc1450
rural1488
misorned1512
inornate?1518
barec1540
broad1588
bald1589
kersey1598
russet1598
unvarnisheda1616
unembellished1630
illaborate1631
severe1665
renable1674
small1678
unadorned1692
inelaborate1747
unlarded1748
chaste1753
uncoloured1845
minimalist1929
spare1965
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > inelegance > [adjective] > low in style
broad1490
low1518
bawdy1519
comical?1565
foot1582
tavernly1612
mean1659
gruff1681
vulgar1716
terra a terra1728
pedestrian1805
unraised1817
terre-à-terre1888
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 3464 (MED) Al be þe metire bot mene, þus mekill haue I ioyned.
a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 59v The meter and verse of Plautus and Terence be verie meane.
1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie i. sig. B5v An Epistle..shoulde..be simple, plaine, and of the lowest and meanest stile.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iii. i. 4 This my meane Taske Would be as heauy to me, as odious, but The Mistris which I serue..makes my labours, pleasures. View more context for this quotation
1650 A. Marvell Horatian Ode 57 He nothing common did or mean, Upon that memorable scene.
1659 H. Hammond Paraphr. & Annot. Psalms (lx. 6 Annot.) 307/1 The wash-pot, we know, is a mean part of household-stuffe.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1676 (1955) IV. 94 Sir William Sandersons funerall..author of two large, but meane Histories of KK. James & Charles the first.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 168. ⁋3 A mean term never fails to displease him to whom it appears mean.
1789 C. Burney Gen. Hist. Music III. 135 In these Lamentations..the poetry is too mean and gloomy for any readers but modern saints or methodists.
1828 C. Lamb Poor Relations in Elia 2nd Ser. 150 He..will thrust in some mean and quite unimportant anecdote of—the family.
d. Unimposing or shabby; characterized by poverty; humble. Used esp. of a building, place of habitation, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > paltry, mean, or contemptible
unworthlyc1230
wretcha1250
seely1297
vilec1320
not worth a cress (kerse)1377
the value of a rushc1380
threadbarec1412
wretched1450
miserable?a1513
rascal1519
prettya1522
not worth a whistlea1529
pegrall1535
plack1539
pelting1540
scald1542
sleeveless1551
baggage1553
paltering1553
piddling1559
twopenny1560
paltry1565
rubbish1565
baggagely1573
pelfish1577
halfpenny1579
palting1579
baubling1581
three-halfpenny1581
pitiful1582
triobolar1585
squirting1589
not worth a lousea1592
hedge1596
cheap1597
peddling1597
dribbling1600
mean1600
rascally1600
three-farthingc1600
draughty1602
dilute1605
copper1609
peltry?a1610
threepenny1613
pelsy1631
pimping1640
triobolary1644
pigwidgeon1647
dustya1649
fiddling1652
puddlinga1653
insignificant1658
piteous1667
snotty1681
scrubbed1688
dishonourable1699
scrub1711
footy1720
fouty1722
rubbishing1731
chuck-farthing1748
rubbishy1753
shabby1753
scrubby1754
poxya1758
rubbishly1777
waff-like1808
trinkety1817
meanish1831
one-eyed1843
twiddling1844
measly1847
poking1850
picayunish1852
vild1853
picayune1856
snide1859
two-cent1859
rummagy1872
faddling1883
finicking1886
slushy1889
twopence halfpenny1890
jerk1893
pissy1922
crappy1928
two-bit1932
piddly1933
chickenshit1934
pissing1937
penny packet1943
farkakte1960
pony1964
gay1978
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. iii. 156 A suburbe..the houses whereof are but meane, and the inhabitants base.
1748 Defoe's Tour Great Brit. (ed. 4) II. 4 Camelford is a mean, but ancient Borough-town.
1855 S. Brooks Aspen Court I. x. 142 Around which the meaner houses and shops of the present day clustered.
1871 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest IV. xvii. 92 The robes of state..made all that France..had beheld of the same kind seem mean by comparison.
1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Parish Churches 245 Let not your altar be mean and your stove conspicuous.
1904 G. K. Chesterton Napoleon of Notting Hill ii. iii. 118 It has made mean landscapes magnificent, and hovels outlast cathedrals.
1929 R. S. Lynd & H. M. Lynd Middletown ix. 102 Here, then, in this array of dwellings, ranging from the mean and cluttered to the spacious and restful, Middletown's most ‘sacred’ institution, the family, works out its destiny.
1945 J. Betjeman New Bats in Old Belfries 26 Townlands rich or townlands mean as These, oh, counties of them screen us In the Kingdom of the West.
1990 R. Jordan Eye of World ix. 122 Within was a wonderland where the meanest structure seemed a palace.
4. no mean ——: denoting something very good or noteworthy of its kind. Now used chiefly to express approval or admiration.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > very great > and remarkable
outnumenc1225
whata1325
outnemea1400
excessive1477
superiora1500
supernatural?1537
supereminent?1563
extraordinary1572
no mean ——1580
metaphysical1589
superhumana1629
uncommon1700
unco1724
some1808
hellacious1847
helluva1905
(a) hang of a1941
1580 R. Parsons Brief Disc. f. 1v So was it no meane comforte..to consider..that their should be fownde in Ingland so many gentlemen..so precyse [etc.].
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice i. ii. 7 It is no meane [1623 smal] happines therfore to be seated in the meane. View more context for this quotation
1611 Bible (King James) Acts xxi. 39 A citizen of no meane citie. View more context for this quotation
1678 S. Butler Hudibras: Third Pt. iii. iii. 208 Hence timely Running's no mean part Of conduct, in the Martial Art.
1708 J. Philips Cyder i. 589 The Roman Legions and great Cæsar found Our Fathers no mean Foes.
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1743 I. 86 His correspondence with him, during many years, proves that he had no mean opinion of him.
1832 Biblical Repertory & Theol. Rev. Oct. 594 Four millions..of families may have farms in the West of no mean size.
1875 E. White Life in Christ (1878) ii. xvii. 224 (note) Mr. Cox, himself no mean Rabbinical scholar, adds [etc.].
1922 ‘R. Crompton’ More William (1924) viii. 131 Her capacity for cakes exceeded even William's, and his was no mean one.
1955 R. C. Hutchinson Stepmother xiii. 81 She herself was to witness helplessly the self-destruction of a creature of no mean inheritance.
1996 J. Doran Red Doran 81 He was Oxford educated and that was no mean thing at the time.
5.
a. Of a person, a person's character, etc.: lacking moral dignity, ignoble; small-minded. Now rare or passing into sense 6.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > ignobleness or baseness > [adjective]
theowlikec1175
low?c1225
undignec1315
unfreec1330
base?1518
roynish1570
baseborn1573
base-minded1573
haskardly1576
ignoble1592
unnoble1593
slavish1597
disnoble1609
infimous1613
unhandsome1645
unheroical1656
mean1665
unworthy1694
unheroic1732
raff1761
undignified1782
raffish1795
truculent1825
unpromotable1836
menial1837
low-flung1841
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > ignobleness or baseness > [adjective] > specifically of character
villain1509
mean1665
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > [adjective]
unkinda1393
uncharitablec1485
incharitable1496
strait-laced1546
ingenerous1635
lean-souled1639
ungenerous1641
mean1665
straitened1712
strait1760
strait-hearted1760
little1766
unmagnanimous1788
narrowing1827
shoddy1918
1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xii. sig. Ff2 The Sublimity of such a Condition would make any Soul, that is not very mean, despise many mean things.
1724 A. Ramsay Vision in Ever Green I. xi He..did me rebuke, For being of sprite sae mein.
1741 C. Middleton Hist. Life Cicero I. vi. 449 A mean submission to illegal power.
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey II. 39 How many mean plans..did my servile heart form!
1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. xlix. 183 The meanest and the basest fellow in the kingdom.
1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 25 Rhymsters who..meanest actions eulogize.
1830 I. D'Israeli Comm. Life Charles I III. viii. 187 Charles the Second..was mean enough to suspend her pension.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People viii. §2. 469 James had meaner motives for his policy of peace than a hatred of bloodshedding.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. xcv. 336 Good citizens who were occupied in..more engrossing ways, allowed politics to fall into the hands of mean men.
b. U.S. colloquial. Of a horse, etc.: vicious or hard to control. Sometimes also in extended use, of a person when drunk: uncontrollable, violent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > unkindness > spite, malice > [adjective] > of a horse, etc.
mean1835
1835 A. B. Longstreet Georgia Scenes 25 He's a monstrous mean horse, gentlemen.
1866 J. C. Gregg Life in Army 18 [Copperhead snakes] were considered the most poisonous, deceptive, dangerous and mean of all the snake family.
1887 F. Francis Saddle & Mocassin 146 He [sc. a cowboy] gets all-fired mean sometimes when he's full.
1888 Cent. Mag. Oct. 836/1 There can be no greater provocation than is given by a ‘mean’ horse or a refractory steer.
1964 L. L. Barrett tr. V. Moog Bandeirantes & Pioneers v. 197 Rarely does one encounter among them what the Americans call the ‘mean drunk’, the kind that makes the most of a vague state of irresponsibility to say all the evil he thinks of himself and his fellow man.
1973 H. S. Thompson Shark Hunt 84 There were always a few mean drunks lurking around to punch anybody who tried that.
c. U.S. colloquial. to feel mean: to feel ashamed of one's conduct; to feel guilty of unfairness or unkindness.
ΚΠ
1839 F. Marryat Diary in Amer. II. 224 Mean is occasionally used for ashamed. ‘I never felt so mean in all my life.’
1862 R. H. Newell Orpheus C. Kerr Papers I. ii. 21 I see he felt powerful mean, so I walked up to him.
1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn xli. 353 [She] tucked me in, and mothered me so good I felt mean.
a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) I. iii. 32 Both felt mean and small.
1925 St. Nicholas Nov. 476/1 Darned if I don't feel mean! I wish I'd offered to go along with him.
d. colloquial (originally U.S.). Of a person, a person's actions, etc.: disobliging, uncooperative; unpleasant, unkind; vicious, cruel.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > unkindness > spite, malice > [adjective]
loathOE
teenfulOE
nithefulOE
ondfula1200
maliciousa1250
doggedc1300
enviousc1330
venomousa1340
venoma1350
spitous?a1366
despitousc1374
heinous?a1400
unkindlya1400
venomyc1400
sinister1411
sputousc1420
doggish?a1425
cankered?a1439
doggya1450
sinistrous1460
spity1481
despiteful1488
spiteful1490
despiteous?1510
viperious?1510
peevisha1522
envyful1530
viperous1535
viperinec1540
vipered1560
bad-minded1588
uncanny1596
dogged-sprighted1600
toothsome1601
maliced1602
ill-minded1611
virulent1613
ill-hearteda1617
doleful1617
spitish1627
ill-meaning1633
splenial1641
litherlya1643
venomsome1660
slim1668
cat-witted1672
vipereal1750
viperish1755
méchant1813
vicious1825
maliceful1840
mean1841
waspish1855
viperian1866
viperan1877
cattish1883
catty1886
bad mind1904
bitchy1908
1841 ‘Dow, Jr.’ Short Patent Serm. 78 [One girl] thought me real mean for uttering such super-diabolical sentiments.
1847 S. C. Reid Scouting Exped. McCulloch's Texas Rangers 76 ‘'Tare and ouns,’ said Larry, ‘it was mighty mean of 'em any how to take away from us the little plunder we'd picked up after such hard fightin'.’
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch II. iii. xxiv. 37 Put that whip down. How very mean of you to whip poor old Tortoise!
1891 R. T. Cooke Huckleberries 14 It would be awful mean of me to leave you here alone.
1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xviii. 195 I don't think a teacher should take such a mean advantage, do you?
1925 J. Dos Passos Manhattan Transfer i. i. 6 I hate her... She gives me the fidgets that woman does; she's nothing but a mean old maid.
1929 T. Wolfe Look homeward, Angel xviii. 243 Get out of here... It's that accursed licker that makes you so mean.
1996 F. Chappell Farewell I'm bound to leave You (1997) 169 Jackson had turned out a right worthy fellow, nothing like when he was a mean old boy.
6. Niggardly, miserly, stingy; not generous or liberal.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [adjective]
gnedec900
gripplea1000
fastOE
narrow-hearteda1200
narrow?c1225
straitc1290
chinchc1300
nithinga1325
scarcec1330
clama1340
hard1340
scantc1366
sparingc1386
niggardc1400
chinchy?1406
retentivea1450
niggardousa1492
niggish1519
unliberal1533
pinching1548
dry1552
nigh1555
niggardly1560
churlish1566
squeamish1566
niggardish1567
niggard-like1567
holding1569
spare1577
handfast1578
envious1580
close-handed1585
hard-handed1587
curmudgeonly1590
parsimonious?1591
costive1594
hidebound1598
penny-pinching1600
penurious1600
strait-handed1600
club-fisted1601
dry-fisted1604
fast-handed1605
fast-fingered1607
close-fisted1608
near1611
scanting1613
carkingc1620
illiberal1623
clutch-fisteda1634
hideboundeda1640
clutch-fista1643
clunch-fisted1644
unbounteous1645
hard-fisted1646
purse-bound1652
close1654
stingy1659
tenacious1676
scanty1692
sneaking1696
gripe-handed1698
narrow-souled1699
niggardling1704
snippy1727
unindulgent1742
shabby1766
neargoinga1774
cheesemongering1781
split-farthing1787
save-all1788
picked1790
iron-fisted1794
unhandsome1800
scaly1803
nearbegoing1805
tight1805
nippit1808
nipcheese1819
cumin-splitting1822
partan-handed1823
scrimping1823
scrumptious1823
scrimpy1825
meanly1827
skinny1833
pinchfisted1837
mean1840
tight-fisted1843
screwy1844
stinty1849
cheeseparing1857
skinflinty1886
mouly1904
mingy1911
cheapskate1912
picey1937
tight-assed1961
chintzy1964
tightwad1976
1840 Southern Literary Messenger 6 551 The commercial houses being completely ruined, gave the money-loving Jews an opportunity to engross the place... And you may depend it is a trial to Christian patience: for ‘as mean as the Jews of Salonica’ is an Eastern proverb.
1872 T. L. Cuyler Heart Culture 96 The meanest of misers is he who hoards a truth.
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda III. v. xxxv. 53 At least he is not mean about money.
1929 F. C. Bowen Sea Slang 80 A kye. A rating who is mean with his money.
1967 R. K. Narayan Sweet-vendor xii. 165 Your father-in-law is not a mean sort; see how solid all the presents are.
1996 H. Fielding Bridget Jones's Diary 269 I can't believe you're being so mean... You can't even loan your mother a few pounds for some traveller's cheques.
III. With approbative connotation.
7. colloquial (originally U.S.).
a. Accomplished or formidable to a degree which inspires awe. In the construction (by hypallage) to —— a mean —— (as to pack a mean punch, to blow a mean trumpet, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [adjective] > skilful or adroit
hendc1275
happya1400
clean1485
habile1485
practivea1500
feat1519
well-handeda1529
handsome1542
trick1542
neat1571
dexterous1622
adroit1652
right-handeda1661
artful1663
nitle1673
ambidextrousa1682
clever1716
jemmy1751
slick1807
sleek1822
cleverish1826
featy1844
two-handed1861
nifty1889
mean1918
organized1926
ept1938
1918 L. E. Ruggles Navy Explained 16 A mean line—Men who have a knack of telling a good joke, story or who are able to give an officer an argument are given credit of having ‘a mean line’.
1919 D. Parker in Vanity Fair (N.Y.) July 37/2 And there are the Drawing-Room Stars; The Ones That Swing a Mean Tea-Cup.
1920 H. C. Witwer in Collier's 15 May 6/3 Everything was jake until K. O. Krouse shook a mean dice and win $28 from Battlin' Lewis on the way to Toledo.
1924 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Feb. 21/1 That Lucy Layman sure does shake a mean foot.
1963 Economist 23 Nov. 775/2 Mr. Ronnie Scott..plays a mean saxophone.
1973 Listener 25 Oct. 578/2 Jack Palance smokes a mean cigar in Oklahoma Crude.
1990 E. Feldman Looking for Love vii. 79 Max made a mean omelette.
b. Attractive, fashionable, stylish.
ΚΠ
1934 M. H. Weseen Dict. Amer. Slang 189 College [slang]... Mean baby—An attractive girl.
1973 Black World Apr. 63 But you was mean..still zoot-suitin'.
1983 E. L. Sturz Widening Circles ii. 14 He and Marvin got into a discussion about..how good it makes a dude feel to be well dressed; and this led..to some of the tactics they'd both employed to obtain their ‘mean vines’.

Compounds

C1.
a. Parasynthetic.
(a)
† mean-apparelled adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iii. ii. 71 Oftentimes he goes but meane-apparel'd . View more context for this quotation
† mean-conditioned adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1639 J. Dyke Right Receiving of Christ (1640) vii. 81 Shall a poore, meane conditioned woman refuse the offer of a Rich husband?
1639 in J. Nalson Impartial Coll. of Great Affairs of State (1682) I. 279 The Multiplicity of the People are mean conditioned.
mean-faced adj.
ΚΠ
1867 A. Trollope Linda Tressel in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Oct. 397/2 She thought that no consideration on earth would induce her to take that mean-faced old man to her breast as her husband.
1953 E. S. Grenfell in C. K. Stead N.Z. Short Stories (1966) 2nd Ser. 69 A shiftless, mean-faced fellow.
mean-gifted adj.
ΚΠ
1824 T. Fenby Refl. iii Fortune's meaner-gifted, homely maids.
mean-hearted adj.
ΚΠ
1858 A. Mayhew Paved with Gold 259 The mean-hearted dog who preferred leaving his losses at blind hookey unsettled.
1981 Shakespeare Q. 32 239/1 Robin Moseley's icy, calculating Goneril; and Kate Connelly's sweet-surfaced but mean-hearted Regan.
mean-minded adj.
ΚΠ
1847 E. Brontë Wuthering Heights I. xiv. 340 Now, was it not the depth of absurdity..for that pitiful, slavish, mean-minded brach to dream that I could love her?
1991 J. Trollope Rector's Wife ii. 34 They were not unkind people, not mean-minded, but it would never have occurred to them to offer to help.
mean-souled adj.
ΚΠ
1680 J. Oldham in Earl of Rochester et al. Poems 121 Mean-soul'd, Offenders, now no Honor gain.
1850 E. B. Bryan Rightful Remedy 95 Abolitionists are everywhere found to be the..ignorant victims of..the mean-souled sharper who..ascribes humanity as the motive of his creed.
1934 D. Thomas Let. 11 May in Sel. Lett. (1966) 128 The mean-souled cries of the gulls & the herons.
mean-spirited adj.
ΚΠ
1694 F. Bragge Pract. Disc. Parables viii. 293 Away with that mean-spirited religion.
1825 J. W. Carlyle Let. 3 Jan. in Coll. Lett. T. & J. W. Carlyle (1970) III. 239 Impertinent, meanspirited wretch!
1985 J. Irving Cider House Rules i. 25 Unfarmed valley land..tends to cramp the uplifting qualities of human nature and enhance those instincts which are mean-spirited and small.
† mean-witted adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) i. xii. sig. C.iiii Meane witted menne.
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique i. f. 2v Euen the meane witted doe knowe that already.
(b)
mean-mindedness n.
ΚΠ
1845 C. I. Johnstone Frankland the Barrister in Edinb. Tales I. 134/1 As if..the fierceness, envy, or mean-mindedness of a few vulgar partisans, could bring disgrace upon the public principles which they supported.
1995 Evening Standard 7 Feb. 9/1 The Treasury, in its perennial mean-mindedness towards local government, is directly threatening the educational standards which the Government had pledged to protect.
mean-spiritedness n.
ΚΠ
1699 M. Henry Disc. Meekness (1822) 63 Meekness is commonly despised as a piece of cowardice and mean-spiritedness.
1889 Overland Monthly Jan. 53/1 I don't know exactly when I first grew to dislike her. It came gradually I think, and partly from her own mean-spiritedness.
1995 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 89 204/1 Roderick Hart tackles a collection of political trends from the..rise of independent voters to the mean-spiritedness of civic life.
(c)
mean-spiritedly adv.
ΚΠ
1907 N.E.D. at Poorly adv. Piteously, abjectly, humbly;..mean-spiritedly, without courage.
1970 R. Davies Fifth Business ii. iv. 90 I was mean-spiritedly pleased that my mother had not lived to hear of my V.C.
1995 Art in Amer. (Nexis) 83 v. 125 [He] mean-spiritedly baits his audience.
b. Complementary.
† mean-born adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) iii. i. 335 Let pale-fac't feare keepe with the meane-borne man. View more context for this quotation
1840 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. Nov. 406 Twice have I drunk the nectar of your lines, Which high sublim'd my mean born phantasie.
mean-looking adj.
ΚΠ
1749 L. Pilkington Mem. (new ed.) II. 281 A most ugly, squinting, mean looking Fellow..came in to buy some prints.
1853 J. Capper in Househ. Words 3 Sept. 20/1 This simply-clad, mean-looking trader.
1989 Callaloo Winter 233 How I'd love to be able to chug the booze, smear my mouth with the back of my hand and belch, thus making these mean-looking black punks cheer.
c. Adverbial.
† mean-dressed adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1765 C. Talbot Let. 17 May in Lett. Mrs. E. Carter & Miss C. Talbot (1808) II. 19 A mean dressed man got up into a tree, and from thence harangued them.
C2.
mean machine n. colloquial (a) a (sports) team thought to be of extremely high ability; (b) any fast or powerful motor vehicle.
ΚΠ
1976 Weekend Mag. (Montreal) 24 Jan. 4/3 The point is that intimidation hockey, an old tradition in our national game, has been honed to a fine art by Shero's ‘mean machine’.
1979 Washington Post 17 July c1/1 ‘Here comes the lady on the mean machine,’ an old man on the corner, yelled as Cecile Roesch putt-putted along Columbia Road.
1986 Telegraph (Brisbane) 29 Sept. 29/9 Swimmer Neil Brooks, one of the stars of Australia's ‘mean machine’, had more than fans waiting for him after his guest appearance at the Sydney Rugby league grand final yesterday.
1991 Rugby World & Post Mar. 30 The All Black mean machine, battle-hardened if a little bruised from its Bledisloe Cup exertions.
1992 Police Rev. 17 Jan. 119/1 The police radio was kept in the glove box of our lime-green mean machine—a mark three Cortina.
mean streak n. a vicious or cruel character trait; a tendency towards unpleasantness.
ΚΠ
1868 Atlantic Monthly May 547/2 There isn't a mean streak in him. I don't believe he ever did a low thing in his life.
1875 Ladies' Repository May 578/1 There are no petty, mean streaks in his character.
1966 Toronto Daily Star 16 June 74/2 A girl who would be attracted to Bud's mean streak and bad temper must be a little out to lunch.
1991 A. Martin Walking on Water (1992) xxix. 111 Stories of his mean streak were legion. If you dropped in on him you were history.
mean street n. colloquial (chiefly in plural) a street in the poorer part of any town; (also) a street in any urban district in which violence, crime, etc., are (perceived to be) rife.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > part of town or city > [noun] > row or street of buildings > types of
Park Lane1847
mean street1861
Millionaires' Row1894
stockbroker belt1960
Coronation Street1962
1861 Chambers's Jrnl. 5 Oct. 212/2 Deal is not very seductive to the sojourner, with its labyrinths of mean streets.
1894 A. Morrison (title) Tales of mean streets.
1931 V. Woolf Waves 177 Here are mean streets where chaffering goes on.
1944 R. Chandler in Atlantic Monthly Dec. 59/2 But down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid.
1991 N.Y. Times 22 Oct. d9/1 Some late-shift workers were quitting because the soaring crime rate has made people afraid of going into Moscow's mean streets at night.
mean white n. derogatory (chiefly U.S.) a poor and landless Southern white; a member of a group of white people regarded as socially inferior; also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1837 H. Martineau Society in Amer. II. 311 There are a few, called by the slaves ‘mean whites’, signifying whites who work with the hands.
1887 H. R. Haggard Jess iv. 30 You must have a gentleman. Your mean white will never get anything out of a Kafir.
1960 R. K. Webb Harriet Martineau xi. 323 An aristocracy who lorded it over slaves and ‘mean whites’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

meanadj.2

Brit. /miːn/, U.S. /min/
Forms: Middle English meene, Middle English meeyne, Middle English menee, Middle English menene (probably transmission error), Middle English meyn, Middle English–1500s meaine, Middle English–1500s meen, Middle English–1500s men, Middle English–1500s mene, Middle English–1500s meyne, Middle English–1600s meane, Middle English– mean, 1500s maene, 1500s meayn, 1600s meanne; Scottish pre-1700 man, pre-1700 mayn, pre-1700 mayne, pre-1700 meane, pre-1700 mein, pre-1700 meine, pre-1700 men, pre-1700 mene, pre-1700 menne, pre-1700 meyn, pre-1700 meyne, pre-1700 min, pre-1700 myn, pre-1700 1700s– mean, pre-1700 1800s mane. N.E.D. (1906) also records a form Middle English mæne.
Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French mene.
Etymology: < Anglo-Norman mene, men, meen intermediate, middle, middle-sized (compare Old French meien (first half of the 12th cent.), moien (c1260), Middle French, French moyen (c1330)) < classical Latin mediānus (see median adj.2). Compare Spanish mediano (1070), Occitan mejan (13th cent.), Italian mezzano (14th cent.), Portuguese mediano (17th cent.). Compare mesne adj. and moyen adj.Among parallel senses of the word in Old and Middle French are: ‘situated in the middle’ (first half of the 12th cent.; compare sense 1a), ‘moderate or middling in size or age’ (c1260; compare sense 7a), ‘ordinary, mediocre’ (1273; compare senses 7b, 7c), ‘of a number in a proportion: that is a mean’ (1377; compare sense 8a), ‘of a verb: middle’ (1530; compare sense 5).
I. Intermediate, intermediary.
†1.
a. Occupying a middle or intermediate place in sequential order or spatial position. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition or fact of being interjacent > [adjective]
middlea1200
mean1340
mediate?1440
intercedent1578
interjacent1594
intermedial1599
intermiddle1613
intervenient1626
intervalling1632
intermediate1646
intervening1646
mediatory1650
intercurrent1656
intermedious1678
intermediant1716
intercepting1826
mediant1853
intermediary1875
interferent1876
the world > space > relative position > central condition or position > [adjective] > situated in the centre or middle
mideOE
middleeOE
mean1340
midwarda1400
moyen1481
centrica1593
midway1608
centricala1631
umbilical1742
middling1747
median1771
focal1825
the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > condition of being mean or average > [adjective]
evenc1300
mean1340
middlingc1485
intermediate1665
half-way1694
middle1699
medium1764
average1770
median1912
middle-range1924
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > middle > [adjective]
middleeOE
midmosteOE
mid1273
mean1340
middlemosta1400
mediate?1440
moyen1481
median1592
intermedial1599
intermediate1648
mede1706
intermediary1788
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 122 Þri stages of uolke..þe on is heȝere, þe oþer men, þe þridde loȝest.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) 1 Paralip. Prol. 14 Constantynoble vn to Antioche approueþ þe sawmpleris of martir Lucian; þe mene [L. mediae] prouyncis betwen þese redyn palestynes bookis.
?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 270 Crist, mene persone in trinyte.
1435 Rolls of Parl. IV. 493/1 To repaire unto Pruce and to the Townes of the mene Hans.
1464 Rolls of Parl. V. 569/2 Aswell for the sustentation of youre people of the seid Townes, as of all youre people of youre Shires in the mean waye.
a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 24 (MED) Som wer so high that þei persyd the hevins; othir ther wer that war meane, and the remanaunte wer lower thanne the othir.
1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII c. 15 Al places meane betwene Manchester and Westchester.
?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens ii. sig. Eij The places called lacune..be in the meane ventrycle.
1578 J. Banister Hist. Man i. f. 24 The meane space betwixt the ribbes and brest bone.
1822 G. Roland Treat. Art Fencing 100 The Counter of Carte parade..parries, the wrist in the mean position inclined outside the arm, the following thrusts.
b. in the mean way: on the way or in the course of one's journey. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > [adverb] > meanwhile
all the whilec888
to whilec950
the whilec960
amongOE
emethena1300
to whilesa1300
therewhilesc1320
that whilesc1330
i-whilesa1340
in (that, this, which, etc.) meantime1340
in the meanwhilea1375
(all) the (also this, that) meantimea1382
in the mean season (also space)a1382
the mean seasona1382
the meanwhilea1382
in the meantimec1384
for the meanwhilec1390
in the mean(s) whilesc1390
the whilesa1400
the whilsta1400
whilsta1400
(in) the meanwhile that?1418
therewhilec1430
mesne1439
meanwhile1440
for the meantime1480
while1508
in the while1542
in the mean1565
in the mean way1569
interim1580
in (that, this, which, etc.) meanwhilea1593
meantimea1593
this while1594
mean space1600
among-hands?1609
between (betwixt obsolete or archaic) whiles1647
ad interim1701
per interim1724
interimistically1890
society > travel > aspects of travel > a journey > on or in the course of a journey [phrase]
in the (also one's) wayOE
by the wayOE
by wayOE
on (also upon) the (also one's) wayOE
in the mean way1569
en route1779
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 559 The Erle of Arundell..departed to Mauns, and in the meane way, tooke the Castels of Mellay and saint Laurence.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 563 In the meane way they encountered with syr Thomas Kiriell [etc.].
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 837 In the meane way they passed by the Tapemiry Paraibæ [etc.].
2. Intermediate in time; coming or occurring between two points of time or two events; intervening. †in the mean season (also space): = in the meantime at meantime n. 1 (obsolete). Also (with omission of preposition) †the mean season, †mean space (= meanwhile adv.). Now only in compounds (see meantime n., adv., and adj. and meanwhile n. and adv.).Occasionally (in 16th cent.) in legal use; cf. mesne adj. 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > [adjective] > intervening
middlea1200
meana1382
interloping1603
interim1604
intercurrent1611
odd1618
intermediate1623
intervenient1629
intermedian1656
interveninga1781
interstitial1841
the world > time > [adverb] > meanwhile
all the whilec888
to whilec950
the whilec960
amongOE
emethena1300
to whilesa1300
therewhilesc1320
that whilesc1330
i-whilesa1340
in (that, this, which, etc.) meantime1340
in the meanwhilea1375
(all) the (also this, that) meantimea1382
in the mean season (also space)a1382
the mean seasona1382
the meanwhilea1382
in the meantimec1384
for the meanwhilec1390
in the mean(s) whilesc1390
the whilesa1400
the whilsta1400
whilsta1400
(in) the meanwhile that?1418
therewhilec1430
mesne1439
meanwhile1440
for the meantime1480
while1508
in the while1542
in the mean1565
in the mean way1569
interim1580
in (that, this, which, etc.) meanwhilea1593
meantimea1593
this while1594
mean space1600
among-hands?1609
between (betwixt obsolete or archaic) whiles1647
ad interim1701
per interim1724
interimistically1890
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Wisd. xiv. 16 After-ward in þe mene comyng tyme waxinge shrewde custum, þis errour as lawe is kept.
1449 Rolls of Parl. V. 150/1 At any tyme meane betwix the puttyng in execution..and the saide Juggement given.
1473–5 in Cal. Proc. Chancery Queen Elizabeth (1830) II. p. lviii To delyver unto her a lawefull estate of the seid meese and land..the meane season perceyved by theym.
c1500 Melusine (1895) 347 And þat meane sayson came two knightes to Lucembourgh.
1509–10 Act 1 Hen. VIII c. 12 §2 They..shall nott be restored to any meane issues or Profyttes of Landes.
?1520 J. Rastell Nature .iiii. Element sig. Evij And for lacke of mynstrellis þe mean season Now wyll we begyn to syng.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccix. f. Ciiv/2 In the mean space theder came the lorde of roy.
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndales Answere iii. p. cciiii In the meane waye marke me this.
a1558 W. Stanford Expos. Kinges Prerog. (1567) f. 84v The king shal haue the meane issues.
1581 W. Averell Life & Death Charles & Iulia sig. Bviiv Meane space fayre Iulia lookes about.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. xx. 26 In the mean space..we went to see the towne.
1600 Maydes Metamorphosis v, in R. W. Bond Lyly's Wks. (1902) III. 386 Meane space, vpon his Harpe will Phœbus play.
1606 G. W. tr. Justinus Hist. vi. 32 Meane space word was brought that Agesilaus was very neere at hand.
1627 J. Carter Plaine Expos. Serm. in Mount 112 When the performance of Gods promise is long delayed, and nothing almost appeareth in the meane season,..then [etc.].
1654 J. Ussher Ann. World (1658) vii. 815 In the mean space Piso went about in vain, to assaile the Navy.
1675 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Odysses x. 537 Mean space Circe a Ram and black Ewe there had ty'd.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) 305 There was no mean portion of Time between their Formation and Animation,..they were living Beings..as soon as they were formed.
1710 W. Salmon Family Dict. (ed. 5) 138 You may take Powers of Rosemary, which you may bathe upon the Lids of the Eyes five or six times a day, shutting the Eye-lids in the mean season very close.
1714 S. Salter Serm. 19 In the mean space what Security can a People have?
1768 H. Brooke Fool of Quality III. xvi. 165 In the mean space..Jenkins had his right leg..carried off by a cannon shot.
1768 H. Brooke Fool of Quality III. xvi. 176 Mean space, I lay insensible to all that had passed.
†3. Intermediate in kind, quality, or degree. Obsolete.In some later quots. perhaps an extended use of sense 8a.
ΚΠ
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Exod. xxv. 4 Purpur, þat is, lyke blode & coccum twyse dyed, þat is, silc of flamme colour, mene bytwix reed & ȝalow.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 305v Aristotil nempneþ þise fyue mene colours by name..ȝolow..Cytrine..rede..purpure..grene.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 3187 Veniel synnes..may falle Bathe grete and smale and men with-alle.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) vi. 347 For-thi has vorschip sic renoune That it is mene [1616 mid] betuix thai tua [sc. ‘fule-hardyment’ and ‘cowardiss’].
c1531 R. Morice in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Literary Men (1843) 24 If..he coulde not lyve chast..he shoulde tak a wif and lyve a meane lyf.
1551 W. Turner Herball (1568) i. 12 Venus heyre is in mean tempre betwene hote and colde.
1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes sig. K.iiii (heading) Of the meane and sure estate.
1587 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Iland Brit. (new ed.) i. vi. 14/1 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) I Ours is a meane language, and neither too rough nor too smooth in vtterance.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 328 Of this Sinopis..there be three kindes, the deepe red, the pale or weake red, and the meane between both.
1610 A. Willet Hexapla in Danielem 297 The meane opinion betweene these is the best.
1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. iv. 4 Of Affections, some are pleasant, some harsh and troublesome, some mean;..The mean are neither good nor ill.
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 131 Sculpture..wherein the Figure sticks out from the Plain whereon it is Engraven,..according as it is more or less protuberant, is call'd..Bas-relief, Mean-relief, or High-relief.
1871 J. Morley Vauvenargues in Crit. Misc. (1878) 20 We must take them in pairs to find out the mean truth.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. c. 414 Many experiments may be needed before the true mean course between these extremes is discovered.
1908 Athenæum 11 July 47/2 Galton's laws of ancestral inheritance and filial regression will tend to produce a return to the mean level.
†4. Intermediary; serving as a means or instrument; done for an ulterior end; intervening as part of a process. Of a person: employed as or acting as an intermediary, agent, or go-between. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > [adjective] > intervening > at a time between two dates
meana1382
mesnea1558
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [adjective] > acting as intermediate agent
meana1382
mediatec1449
moyen1470
mediatory1578
intermedial1649
intervenient1651
mediative1813
intermediary1818
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Gen. xlii. 23 By a mene persoun vndoyng boþ þe langagez [L. per interpretem].
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. ix. 113 (MED) Þe wyf was made þe weye for to help worche, And þus was wedloke ywrouȝt with a mene persone.
?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 278 Þat þe sotil amortasynge of seculer lordischipis þat is don bi menene [prob. read mene] hondis in fraude of þe statute be visely enquyred.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 332 (MED) Crist ȝaf mediatli (that is to seie, bi meene ȝiftis to his clergie) the endewing of immouable godis.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 205 Þe theef & þe rauenere owyn to aske forȝifnesse slely be hem-self, or be an-oþer meen persone.
1509 J. Fisher Mornynge Remembraunce Countesse of Rychemonde (de Worde) sig. Av v Oftentymes by herself she wolde..courage euery of them to doo well. And somtyme by other meane persones.
1563 2nd Tome Homelyes Peril of Idolatry iii, in J. Griffiths Two Bks. Homilies (1859) ii. 228 To be mean intercessors and helpers to God.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 55 The mutation or change of bloud into a bone, cannot be accomplished but by long interpolation and many meane alterations.
1700 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1852) II. 9 Griffith Jones, first purchaser and Henry Elfrith mean purchaser under him complain.
1707 J. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia (ed. 22) ii. ii. 78 If the mean Patron present not in due Time.., the Right of Presentation comes to the King.
†5. Grammar. Of a verb (in ancient Greek or in a language with verbal forms likened to those of ancient Greek): expressing reflexive or reciprocal action (the ‘middle voice’; see middle adj. 4a). Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > voice > [adjective] > middle
mean1530
neutral1531
middle1751
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement Introd. 33 The mean verbes [in French] have also thre dyvers sortes of conjugations.
1583 W. Fulke Def. Transl. Script. v. 151 Πληροῦμαι..is often taken passiuely: But seeing it is also found to be a verbe meane, who neede to be afraide to vse it actiuely?
†6. Music. Designating the middle (usually alto) part in polyphonic music; (also) designating an instrument on which such a part is played. See also mean clef n. at Compounds. Cf. mean n.3 14. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > harmony or sounds in combination > [adjective] > parts in harmony or counterpoint > middle parts
mean1597
inward1654
second1724
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 17 An example of augmentation..in the Treble and Meane parts.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Tromboncino, a treble or meane sackbut.
1654 J. Playford Breefe Introd. Skill Musick i. 2 The severall tones or sounds, which the Scale is divided into: First the Basse,..second the Meane, or middle part; the third, the Treble.
1721 A. Malcolm Treat. Musick 332 All the other Parts [after the treble and bass] whose particular Names you'll learn from Practice, I shall call Mean Parts, whose Clef is c.
1724 W. Turner Sound Anatomiz'd 36 In former Times the Tenor Cliff was as often placed upon the second Line as it was on any of the others, being called the Mean Part.
II. Moderate, middling; average.
†7. Not much above or below the average; moderate, mediocre, middling.
a. Moderate or middling in size, stature, or age. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > condition of being mean or average > [adjective] > average
meana1387
medium1670
middle1699
middling1762
medial1778
average1803
regular1890
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 283 (MED) Eiþer hadde a small voys and [was] mene of stature.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) v. 806 Criseyde mene was of hire stature.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope vi. xvi A man of a meane age whiche tooke two wyues.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Eneydos xxix. 112 A meane noose, not to grete nor to lytell, wythout ouer grete openynge.
1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) v. xxv. 134 In foure foted beestes wyth thycke bodyes and meane thyes, the necke is shorte grete and moche strengthe of suche bestes is in the necke.
?1543 T. Phaer tr. J. Goeurot Regiment of Lyfe x. f. lix Giue..at euery tyme the quantitie of a meane chesnutte.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry IV f. xxxiiv This kyng was of a mean stature wel proporcioned and formally compact.
1575–6 in J. Nichols Progresses Queen Elizabeth (1823) II. 2 Two mene perles pendaunte.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 13v Of a meane age, that he be not vnwylling to woorke for youth, nor vnable to trauayle for age.
1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden liii It is of the height and bignesse of a mean tree.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xiv. 395 Their Noses of a mean bigness.
b. Moderate or middling in quality or strength. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > moderateness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > having some quality in a moderate degree
mean?1440
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) i. 79 Yf hit [sc. molde] be lene, hit gooth in al and more; Yf hit be mene [L. mediocris], hit wol be with the brinke.
c1450 Contin. Lydgate's Secrees (Sloane 2464) 2647 (MED) Meene in voys, neythir to grete nor smalle.
c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 65 (MED) Sewynge in siche placis muste be euene mene, neiþir riȝt strong ne riȝt feble.
1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth x. sig. F.iv Meane wynes as wynes of Gascony, frenche wynes, & specyally raynysshe wyne that is fyned is good with meate.
1572 J. Jones Benefit Bathes of Buckstones f. 10 Meane Ale, neyther to new, nor to stale, not ouerhopped.
1679 T. Puller Moderation Church of Eng. (1843) 115 A voice mean and grave, fit to excite devotion.
c. Moderate in amount, or in degree of excellence; tolerable, mediocre. Later used only disparagingly (and so in some cases not readily distinguished from mean adj.1). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > mediocrity > [adjective]
feeblec1275
demeanc1380
unnoblec1384
coarse1424
colourlessc1425
passable1489
meana1500
indifferent1532
plain1539
so-so1542
mediocre1586
ordinary1590
fameless1611
middling1652
middle-rate1658
ornery1692
so-soish1819
nohow1828
betwixt and between1832
indifferential1836
null1847
undazzling1855
deviceless1884
uncompetitive1885
tug1890
run of the mill1919
serviceable1920
dim1958
spammy1959
comme ci, comme ça1968
vanilla1972
meh2007
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 12 My wynnyngis ar bot meyn, No wonder if that I be leyn.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. clxxxxiiii. f. cxvv She was..but of meane fayrenesse as other women were.
1546 in W. Page Certificates Chantries County of York (1895) II. 213 Of honest qualities and condicions, and meane lerenyng.
1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia ii. sig. Kivv The resydewe they sell at reasonable and meane price.
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 43v Let thy apparell be but meane, neyther too braue.., nor to base.
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xlii. lxvi. 1155 The Consull contenting himselfe with a meane good hand..retired with his forces into the campe.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. xxxiii. 299 In that countrie it is but a meane wealth.
a1628 J. Preston New Covenant (1634) 24 It is better for thee..to have meane gifts, than to have high gifts.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 41 My own House..where I should see there had been but mean Improvements.
d. Of soil or land: moderately fertile. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxxix Thy sandy grounde..sette first, than clay grounde and than meane grounde.
1549 in Cal. State Papers Scotl. (1898) I. 145 Cutters of mosses for makinge of mean landes of thos that be but marresse.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 25 After a croppe of Rye in meane ground, you shall haue the same yeere great Rapes.
1607 J. Norden Surueyors Dialogue v. 233 I have seene thistles in meane ground.
8. Mathematics.
a. Of a value: so related to a given set of values that the algebraic sum of their differences from it is zero; that is the arithmetical mean (mean n.3 10a) of a set of values; average. Hence used before the name of a variable quantity to express the mean average value of that quantity (as in mean diameter, mean distance, mean motion, mean temperature, etc.). Cf. mean proportional n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > [adjective] > mean
meana1450
medial1570
subcontrary1914
a1450 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe ii. §44. 60 The residue is the mene mote for the same day and the same houre.
1694 W. Holder Disc. Time 20 According to the Mean Motion of the Sun.
1709 J. Ward Young Mathematician's Guide (1734) 455 By the Bung and Head Diameters, find such a mean Diameter as you judge will Reduce the propos'd Cask to a Cylinder.
1743 S. Johnson Deb. Senate Lilliput in Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 406 The Produce of the Customs was the last Year less by half a Million, than the mean Revenue.
1788 J. Madison Federalist Papers xiv. 82 The mean distance from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, does not probably exceed seven hundred and fifty miles.
1803 T. R. Malthus Ess. Princ. Population (new ed.) ii. vii. 271 In the Pays de Vaud, the lowest mean life..is 29½ years.
1846 G. E. Day tr. J. F. Simon Animal Chem. II. 160 The mean amount of free lactic acid excreted daily..was 2·167 grammes.
1860 M. F. Maury Physical Geogr. Sea (ed. 8) v. §282 Rain-gauges will give us the mean annual rain-fall.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 200 The constant temperature being nearly the mean temperature of the surface.
1906 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1905 260 Mean values were computed for different galactic latitudes by combining the results of regions at equal distances from the Milky Way.
1967 Brain 90 900 The mean body weight of the undernourished rats rose from 63 to 102 g. during the first week of rehabilitation.
1990 New Scientist 28 July 18/1 We do not yet know whether carrying out the equivalent of doubling the amount of carbon dioxide in the air..will increase global mean temperatures by 2°C or by 4°C.
b. Military mean point of impact n. the centre of a cluster or pattern of impact points made by bombs or bullets, calculated as an average of their coordinates (see quot. 1973).
ΚΠ
1932 J. A. Barlow Elements Rifle Shooting iii. 23 (heading) Finding the mean point of impact.
1945 J. Colville Diary 8 Jan. in Fringes of Power (1985) 549 Returned to London where rockets are becoming much too frequent and where the Mean Point of Impact seems to be moving westwards.
1973 J. Quick Dict. Weapons & Mil. Terms Mean point of impact, the point whose coordinates are the arithmetic means of the coordinates of the separate points of impact of a finite number of projectiles fired or released at the same aiming point under a given set of conditions.
†9. Using moderation; temperate. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
a1500 Eng. Conquest Ireland (Rawl.) (1896) 89 He was..of mete and of drynke ful meen & for-berynge.

Compounds

mean anomaly n. Astronomy the angle in an imaginary circular orbit corresponding to the eccentric anomaly of a body moving in an elliptical orbit.
ΚΠ
1602 T. Blundeville Theoriques Seven Planets 50 The meane & true Anomalie or Inequalitie of the Moons latitude.
1670 J. Flamstead in Philos. Trans. 1669 (Royal Soc.) 4 1109 The moons mean Anomaly is 0 s. 15 d. 10 m. 37 sec.
1867 E. B. Denison Astron. without Math. (ed. 3) 32 The distance of a planet from perihelion, or of the moon from perigee..is called its true anomaly; and the distance it would have gone in the same time if it moved uniformly, or in a circle instead of an ellipse, is its mean anomaly.
1992 Amer. Math. Monthly 99 46 Kepler's Equation relates E to t by means of a quantity M = 2πt/T called the mean anomaly of the planet at time t.
† mean clef n. Music Obsolete rare a C clef; cf. sense 6.
ΚΠ
1721 A. Malcolm Treat. Musick xi. 333 The Treble or g Clef is ordinarily set on the 2d Line..and the mean or c Clef on the 3d Line... The mean Clef which most frequently changes Place.
mean deviation n. Statistics (more fully mean absolute deviation) the mean of the absolute deviations of a set of data values from some fixed central value (usually the mean).
ΚΠ
1858 W. Greener Gunnery in 1858 375 The mean deviation on the target from the centre of the group of 10 hits being only ·85 of a foot at 500 yards' range.
1911 G. U. Yule Introd. Theory Statistics viii. 134 There are three such measures in common use—the standard deviation, the mean deviation, and the quartile deviation or semi-interquartile range.
1954 Appl. Statistics 3 100 Almost invariably the mean absolute deviation from an expected value is ‘invented’ as a measure of dispersion by at least one member of the group.
1999 Amer. Jrnl. Ophthalmol. 127 436 Univariate linear regression of mean deviation was undertaken for each eye that had field data from at least five tests.
mean free path n. Physics the mean value of a free path; esp. the mean value of the distance travelled by a particle before collision with another particle or with a bounding surface.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > particle physics > particle avoiding strong interaction > electron > [noun] > unimpeded path in crystal
mean free path1879
the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > nuclear fission > nuclear fuel > [noun] > source of thermal neutrons > distance travelled by neutron
mean free path1879
1879 Eng. Mech. 5 Sept. 639/1 This dark space is found to increase and diminish as the vacuum is varied, and is found to be the mean free path of the molecules of the residual gas.
1933 A. W. Barton Text Bk. Heat ix. 208 The viscosity is independent of pressure. The same argument applies to thermal conductivity. Both of these predictions have been verified experimentally for pressures at which the mean free path is small compared to the size of the containing vessel.
1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) VIII. 187 The types of mean free paths which are used most frequently are for elastic collisions of molecules in a gas, of electrons in a crystal, of phonons in a crystal, and of neutrons in a moderator.
1985 Aerosol Sci. & Technol. 4 269/2 The assumed mean free path of 0.0673 μm for air at sea level and 23°C with viscosity of 183.245 micropoise.
† mean hand n. Obsolete a neutral party serving as the custodian of a person, sum of money, etc.
ΚΠ
1451 J. Osbern in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 74 Ye wold..leve a summe if he wold a named it in a mene mannys hand, and seche as he hath trust to.]
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn 1532 (MED) When the relese selid was with a syde bonde, They were I-leyde..in a meen honde.
c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. l/2 Tyll he hadde leyde downe in pledge..Crownes of golde in too the handis of Herry A. To kepe as in meane hande, tyll the sayd mater myght be duli examened and vndirstond.
mean libration n. Astronomy the mean orientation of the moon as visible from Earth, considered as an ‘average’ of its apparent oscillations (see libration n. 2).
ΚΠ
1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 801/2 The subjoined engraving..gives a pretty accurate view of the appearance of the moon in her mean libration.
1961 V. A. Firsoff Moon Atlas 13/1 The following Quadrant Maps are not corrected to the mean libration.
1998 Mod. Astronomer Mar. 44/3 Beyond the Moon's limb at mean libration, the Dörfel mountains tower over Bailly at its western extreme.
mean line n. Typography the level defined by the top of the primary lower-case letters (those without ascenders) in a given font.
ΚΠ
1960 G. A. Glaister Gloss. Bk. 253/1 Mean line, the imaginary line running along the top of those lower-case letters which are without ascenders.
1976 Visible Language 10 44 Mean line, the imaginary line which would join the tops of the miniscules without ascenders.
1983 J. Hutchinson Letters iii. 78 A capital line (which would become the mean line when lower-case letters were developed) and a base line..were established.
† mean lord n. Feudal Law Obsolete a lord who holds an estate from a superior lord; = mesne lord n. at mesne adv., adj., and n. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > lord > [noun] > subordinate lord
mean lord1535
underlord1929
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > lord > [noun] > types of lord
mean lord1535
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > tenure of property > one who has tenure > [noun] > (feudal) superior > holding of a superior lord
mesne?1530
mean lord1535
mesne lord1611
lord mesne1656
1535 Act 27 Hen. VIII c. 22 The lordes immediat & thother meane lords haue not put the..acte in dewe and plaine execucion.
1670 J. Pettus Fodinæ Regales 20 It is good for Princes, and even for mean Lords, to keep a Claim to their Prerogatives and Customes.
mean moon n. Astronomy a hypothetical moon conceived as moving uniformly through the sky with the same orbital period as the actual moon.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > [noun] > mean
mean moon1845
1845 Brit. Almanac of Soc. for Diffusion Useful Knowl. 1845 20 At the fifth new moon the Calendar moon is nearly 3 hours behind the mean moon.
1877 Encycl. Brit. VII. 615/1 This calendar moon is not the moon of the heavens, nor the mean moon of the astronomers.
1970 S. Chapman & R. S. Lindzen Atmospheric Tides ii. l70 By analogy with the mean solar time, a mean lunar time is introduced, determined by the motion of a fictitious mean moon, which is imagined to move uniformly round the earth.
2010 C. Wilson Hill–Brown Theory Moon’s Motion ii. 15 Certain constants of the theory—the orbital eccentricities of the Moon and the Sun,..the ratio of the Sun's and Moon's mean motions, the ratio of the mean Moon-Earth and Sun-Earth distances.
mean noon n. Astronomy noon as calculated by the motion of the mean sun; the moment at which the centre of the mean sun crosses either the local or the standard meridian.
ΚΠ
1750 J. Robertson tr. N. L. de La Caille Elements Astron. ii. i. 149 There is a considerable difference between the true noon..and the mean noon, or the instant the sun's centre would have passed the meridian, if its motion in right ascension was uniform.
1839 H. Moseley Astron. xxvi. 99 About the equinox the time of true noon precedes the time of mean noon.
1971 W. M. Smart Text-bk. Spherical Astron. (ed. 5) ii. 43 When the mean sun is on the observer's meridian, it is local mean noon there.
mean sea level n. the average height of the sea; spec. the mean height relative to a fixed level on land as calculated from measurements made at frequent intervals over an extended period such as a year.
ΚΠ
1863 R. Fitzroy Weather Bk. 15 (note) Its [sc. the barometer's] average height being 29·95 inches at the mean sea level in England on the London parallel of latitude.
1926 J. Malcolm Agric. Surveying v. 123 The datum adopted in the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain, denoted by the letters O.D., was what was considered in 1844 to be mean sea level at Liverpool... The new datum is mean sea level at Newlyn.
1968 R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 871/2 During the last glacial period of the Pleistocene, mean sea level was lowered by about 100 meters or more. River valleys cut down towards a new profile of equilibrium.
1991 Flight Internat. 9 Oct. 42/3 The existing tiny island of Chek Lap Kok will be levelled, and the rock used as landfill to create a platform for the airport, 10m above mean sea level.
mean solar day n. Astronomy the apparent solar day averaged over a tropical year, measured as the interval between successive transits across a given meridian of the mean sun.
ΚΠ
1810 J. Greig Astrography iii. 43 A mean solar day, is the time shewn by a well going time piece, and consists always of 24 hours.
1863 R. Main Pract. & Spherical Astron. v. 99 Measured in mean solar days.., the length of the tropical year is 365.24222 days.
1935 A. H. G. Palmer & K. S. Snell Mechanics ii. 14 The unit generally chosen for scientific purposes is the mean solar second, or 1/86400 of the mean solar day.
1991 C. Mansall Discover Astrol. iv. 55/2 There is a difference in time between the sidereal day and the mean solar day of 3 minutes 56 seconds.
mean solar time n. Astronomy time as calculated by the motion of the mean sun (corresponding to standard clock time at the meridian that defines a time zone).
ΚΠ
1765 Philos. Trans. 1764 (Royal Soc.) 54 344 There are three different kinds of time used by astronomers, sidereal time, apparent solar time, and mean solar time.
1854 H. Moseley Lect. Astron. (ed. 4) xxi. 96 The difference between true and mean solar time..is called the equation of time.
1959 A. N. Spitz & F. Gaynor Dict. Astron. 405 Mean solar time or civil time is the average sun time... It is the basis of all ordinary measurements of time.
1992 S. P. Maran Astron. & Astrophysics Encycl. 930/2 Clocks that were designed specifically for keeping sidereal or mean solar time were called regulators, because they provided the standard time by which other clocks were regulated.
mean square n. Statistics the (arithmetic) mean of the squares of a set of numbers.
ΚΠ
a1832 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) II. 460 k′ and k″ are approximately found by taking the actual mean, and the actual mean square, of a large number of observed durations. Again, the mean risk of error in estimating a single duration is ·39894√[(k″ − k′2) ÷ s].
1885 F. Y. Edgeworth in Jubilee Vol. Royal Statist. Soc. 192 The mode of extricating the modulus..we above called the method of mean square.
1907 Drapers' Company Res. Mem. (Biometric Ser.) 4 39 Mean square of rank differences will be more accurate than mean positive rank difference.
1956 A. A. Townsend Struct. Turbulent Shear Flow iii. 44 The contributions to the mean-square rate of strain of the eddies larger than 1/k come mostly from values of E(k′) for k′ near k.
1991 European Sociol. Rev. 7 283/1 The residual mean squares for the more parsimonious model B are even lower than that of model A.
mean-square deviation n. Statistics = mean-square error n.
ΚΠ
1970 S. Brandt Statist. & Computational Methods vi. 83 A sum of squares..divided by the number of degrees of freedom is called the mean square or more explicitly the mean-square deviation... Its square root (which has the dimension of the measured quantity, i.e. the mean) has the lengthy name root-mean-square deviation.
mean-square error n. Statistics the mean of the squares of the differences between a set of data values and some fixed central value (usually the mean); the variance of a set of values; (formerly) †the standard deviation of a set of values (obsolete).
ΚΠ
1885 F. Y. Edgeworth in Jubilee Vol. Royal Statist. Soc. 193 The Mean Square of Error, ought theoretically..to be 82.5.
1895 K. Pearson in Philos. Trans. 1894 (Royal Soc.) A. 185 80 Then σ will be termed its standard-deviation (error of mean square).]
1968 R. A. Lyttleton Myst. Solar Syst. vii. 245 This regrouping of the equations of condition..results in a further reduction of the number of unknowns at the price..of increasing the mean-square error associated with each equation.
1986 R. C. Harkness in T. C. Bartee Digital Communic. ix. 370 The horizontal scale provides a measure of mean square error (MSE).
mean sun n. Astronomy an imaginary or hypothetical sun conceived as moving through the sky throughout the year at a constant speed equal to the mean rate of the real sun, used in calculating mean time.
ΚΠ
1765 Philos. Trans. 1764 (Royal Soc.) 54 345 How many minutes and seconds of mean solar time doth the mean sun take to move this distance up to or from the meridian?
1860 R. Main tr. E. F. Brunnow Spherical Astron. III. xx. 81 The mean sun is sometimes before the true sun and sometimes behind it.
1884 Observatory 1 Jan. 3 We make no distinction in our theories between the real motion of the sun in longitude and that of the mean sun.
1975 I. Asimov Eyes on Universe (1976) iii. 46 It became necessary to imagine a ‘mean sun’, an imaginary body that reached the meridian at exactly twenty-four-hour intervals.
1986 P. Duffett-Smith Astron. with your Personal Computer 27 Time reckoned with respect to the mean Sun at Greenwich, sometimes known (ambiguously) as Greenwich Mean Time, is properly called Universal Time.
† mean term n. [compare French terme moyen (1704), moyen terme (1732)] Logic Obsolete a middle term in a syllogism; cf. mean n.3 13.
ΚΠ
1599 T. Blundeville Art of Logike 118 Made to agree by helpe of a thirde tearme called the mean tearme or proofe.
1795 H. Hunter tr. L. Euler Lett. to German Princess I. 471 This term. A, is called the mean, or medium term.
mean time n. [compare French temps moyen (1740)] = mean solar time n.; cf. Greenwich Mean Time n. at Greenwich n. 1c.
ΚΠ
1751 Chambers's Cycl. (ed. 7) at Equate To Equate solar days, that is to convert apparent into mean time, and mean into apparent time.
1834 Nat. Philos. (Libr. Useful Knowl.) III. Math. Geogr. v. 16/1 A common sun-dial shows the hour of apparent time. Time-keepers or chronometers, common watches and clocks, are made to show the hour of mean time.
1942 F. Debenham Astrographics (ed. 2) 20 The shadow of the real sun will only give us the irregular real sun time (called Apparent Time), so we have to add or subtract the Equation of Time to get Mean Time.
1992 Apollo June 404/3 Daniel Quare..made the long-case clock on view which shows both mean time and solar time and has two separate but interlinked dials.
mean-value theorem n. Mathematics an elementary theorem in mathematical analysis, which states that if a real function f(x) is continuous on the closed interval a ≦ x ≦ b and differentiable on the open interval a < x < b, then there is a point in the open interval at which the first derivative of the function is equal to f(b) − f(a)/ b − a; (also) any of several generalizations of this theorem.
ΚΠ
1900 Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 1 504 Applying the usual mean value theorem, we have Jν = CνΔ(z)dz.
1957 T. M. Apostol Math. Anal. v. 93 One of the most useful tools of differential calculus is the Mean Value Theorem... There is at least one interior point x0 of (a, b) such that f(b) − f(a) = f′(x0)(b − a).
1989 W. Gellert et al. VNR Conc. Encycl. Math. (ed. 2) xix. 411 If in the mean value theorem the values f(a) and f(b) are equal then..there exists in this interval a tangent parallel to the x-axis.
1990 H. A. Priestley Introd. Complex Anal. (rev. ed.) 194 The Mean-value theorem does not extend to holomorphic functions.
† mean way n. [after classical Latin via media (see middle way n. and adv.)] Obsolete = via media at via n. 3a; (also) an alternative course, or (occasionally simply) a means or method.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > escape > [noun] > means of escape > from a proposed alternative
mean waya1425
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [noun] > course adopted to achieve an end
waya1225
wonec1290
mean waya1425
policyc1430
method1526
politicsa1529
politic1588
game1595
dent1597
efficacy1690
tactics1772
tactic1791
strategy1834
game plan1957
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 4844 Men this thenken..That lasse harm is..Deceyve them than deceyved be..where they ne may Fynde non other mene wey.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. 2658 (MED) I schal ordeyne A mene weye þat we bothe tweyne May..at leyser mete sone.
c1450 (c1375) G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite 286 Ther ben non other mene weyes newe.
c1450 (?c1408) J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte (1901) 4667 (MED) She shoold ha deyed..Ther was non other mene weye, Yif goddys myght of kynde deye.
?1532 T. Elyot tr. Plutarch Educ. Children (new ed.) vii. sig. Ciiiiv The meane waye to holde in euery thynge, it is a high and perfecte crafte.
1549 Ridley Let. to Somerset in R. Potts Liber Cantabr. (1855) i. 245–6 No faut can be found ether in hir entent or in the mean ways whearby she wrought to accomplishe the same.
a1695 Z. Cradock Great End Christianity (1706) 16 All the mean way partakes more or less..of both the opposite Extreams.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

meanv.1

Brit. /miːn/, U.S. /min/
Inflections: Past tense and past participle meant Brit. /mɛnt/, U.S. /mɛnt/;
Forms: Old English mænan, Old English menan (Anglian), early Middle English mæine, early Middle English mæne, Middle English mæn, Middle English mane, Middle English meen, Middle English men, Middle English meyn, Middle English meyne, Middle English meon (probably transmission error), Middle English–1500s meine, Middle English–1500s 1700s meene, Middle English–1600s meane, Middle English–1600s mein, Middle English–1600s mene, Middle English– mean; English regional 1800s– main (south-western), 1800s– mainy (south-western), 1800s– menie (south-western), 1800s– meyny (south-western), 1800s– meean (northern), 1800s– meon (northern); Scottish pre-1700 maine, pre-1700 meaine, pre-1700 meane, pre-1700 meaynne, pre-1700 meen, pre-1700 mein, pre-1700 meine, pre-1700 men, pre-1700 mene, pre-1700 menn, pre-1700 meyn, pre-1700 meyne, pre-1700 1700s– mean; Irish English (northern) 1900s– main, 1900s– mane, 1900s– mean. Past tense

α. Old English mænde, Old English (Anglian)–Middle English mende, Middle English meenede, Middle English meenide, Middle English meinde, Middle English mened, Middle English menede, Middle English mennede, Middle English menyd, Middle English menyt, 1500s– meaned (now archaic); Scottish pre-1700 meand, pre-1700 mean'de, pre-1700 meanet, pre-1700 meanit, pre-1700 meind, pre-1700 meinde, pre-1700 meinet, pre-1700 meinit, pre-1700 menit, pre-1700 menitt, pre-1700 mentit, pre-1700 menyt, pre-1700 meynd, pre-1700 1700s– meaned; Irish English (northern) 1900s– meaned.

β. Middle English mant, Middle English maute (transmission error), Middle English–1500s mente, Middle English–1600s ment, 1500s– meant, 1500s–1600s meante; Scottish pre-1700 ment, pre-1700 1700s– meant, 1800s– meint, 1900s– meent.

Past participle

α. Old English gemæned, Old English mæned, Middle English meened, Middle English mende, Middle English menid, 1500s–1800s meaned; Scottish pre-1700 meanit, pre-1700 meined, pre-1700 meinnit, pre-1700 mened, pre-1700 menid, pre-1700 menit, pre-1700 menyt, pre-1700 meynit, pre-1700 1700s– meaned; Irish English (northern) 1900s– meaned.

β. Middle English imente, Middle English imeynt, Middle English mente, Middle English yment, Middle English–1600s ment, 1500s– meant.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian mēna to signify, Middle Dutch mēnen to intend, signify, think, hold a good opinion of, love (Dutch menen to intend, think), Old Saxon mēnian to intend, signify, have in mind, mention (Middle Low German mēnen , meinen to intend, signify, hold an (especially good) opinion of, love, German regional (Low German) menen to intend, signify, be of the opinion, think), Old High German meinen to intend, signify, make known, mention, have in mind (Middle High German meinen to intend, signify, have in mind, hold an opinion of, love, German meinen to intend, have in mind, think, say, (poetic) love), all ultimately < a Germanic base cognate with Old Church Slavonic měniti to suppose, think, consider, have in mind, mention (this word exhibits an extraordinarily close parallelism of meaning with the Old English and Old Saxon verbs). The Scandinavian forms, Icelandic meina , Old Swedish mena (Swedish mena ), Danish mene , all in sense ‘to intend, signify, consider’, are probably borrowings < Middle Low German. From the same Germanic base are derived the following nouns: Old Frisian mēne opinion, intention, Old High German meina , probably originally in sense ‘opinion’, but only attested in phrases (as thia meina , bī thia meina truly, really), and probably also (with a different ablaut grade) Old Frisian minne , Middle Dutch minne (Dutch min ), Old Saxon minnia , minnea (Middle Low German minne ), Old High German minna (Middle High German minne ), all in sense ‘love, affection, agreement’. The further etymology and the order of sense-development are uncertain (see also note below); probably < the Indo-European base of i-mene adj. (which might suggest the original sense ‘to express opinions alternately or by turns’); a connection with the Indo-European base of mind n.1 has also been suggested, but this is difficult to explain phonologically.In Old English the prefixed form gemǣnan to say, mention, is also common (compare Old Saxon gimēnian to have dealings with, announce, Old High German gimeinen to have dealings with, share, communicate with, declare (Middle High German gemeinen to have dealings with, share, communicate with), Gothic gamainjan to share, defile). Compare also bemean v.1 Branches I., II., III., IV. are paralleled among the cognate verbs found in the other Germanic languages, but branches V. and VI. are not closely paralleled outside English. However, Branch V. is paralleled in Middle English by min v.2, the basic sense of which is ‘remember’. The two verbs frequently occur in Middle English textual families as variant readings in this sense (for examples of this variation, see e.g. Middle Eng. Dict. s.v. menen v.(1), sense 4). Since min v.2 is attested earlier than this branch of mean it is possible that it influenced the latter semantically. (Branch III. of this verb, attested in Old English, may in turn have influenced min v.2 5, which dates from the 14th cent.) Influence of the rare verb min v.1 on branch VI. is also possible.
I. To intend.
1.
a. transitive. To have as one's purpose or intention; to intend. In later use also: to be resolved or determined on. †Also with clause as object (obsolete). Now somewhat archaic except in to mean mischief, to mean no harm, and to mean business (see business n. Phrases 12).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > intention > intend [verb (transitive)]
willeOE
meaneOE
minteOE
i-muntec1000
thinkOE
ettlea1200
intenta1300
meanc1330
forn-castc1374
intendc1374
ettlea1400
drive1425
proposec1425
purpose1433
attend1455
suppose1474
pretend1477
mindc1478
minda1513
pretence1565
appurpose1569
to drive at ——1574
thought to1578
hight1579
pretent1587
fore-intend1622
pre-intend1647
design1655
study1663
contemplate1794
purport1803
eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) xxxviii. 118 Gif he þara nan nyte, þonne nat he hwæt he mænð.
eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) xxxix. 128 Þa ongan he sprecan swiðe fiorran ymbutan, swelce he na þa spræce ne mænde, & tiohhode hit ðeah þiderweardes.
c1330 Gregorius (Auch.) (1914) 133 Þan alon sche left þer inne; Non wist what sche ment.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) ii. 581 Sith ye woot that myn entent is cleene, Take heede therof, for I non yvel meene.
a1450 York Plays (1885) 290 A! mercy, lorde, mekely, no malice we mente.
1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. B6v The Cocatrice neuer meaneth so much crueltie, as when he fawneth vpon thee, and weepeth.
a1604 M. Hanmer Chron. Ireland 114 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) And murther the poore and seely people, which God wot, meant no harme.
1612 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 100 Except they meane their seruice should bee made but the accessary.
1673 Lady's Call. i. ii. 12 Nature..never meant a serene and clear forehead should be the frontispiece to a cloudy tempestuous heart.
1692 J. Dryden Cleomenes ii. i. 11 Thou art only, Misplanted in a base degenerate Soil; But Nature when she made thee, meant a Spartan.
1728 J. Gay Beggar's Opera ii. iv. 25 Pardon me, Madam, I meant no harm by the Question.
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. i. iii. 14 A poor half-witted Man that means no mischief.
1771 H. Mackenzie Man of Feeling 254 I do not mean attempting to thank you;..let me but know what name I shall place here.
1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest II. x. 89 I meant no harm.
1831 New Eng. Mag. Sept. 234 He has had the foolhardy audacity to show his ugly face..meaning no harm of course, as he pretends.
1851 N. Hawthorne House of Seven Gables viii. 130 I meant no harm! Since he is really my cousin, I would have let him kiss me, if I could!
1882 Harper's Mag. Nov. 936/2 A gleam in his eye which showed that he meant mischief.
1891 W. Morris News from Nowhere xxvii. 206 I do not suppose she meant a trap for me, but anyhow I fell into it.
1891 J. Newman Scamping Tricks & Odd Knowl. vi. 46 I saw they were started on the road of mutual admiration, and travelling pretty, and that he meant calling again.
1904 A. Griffiths Fifty Years Public Service ii. 22 Even to my young and inexperienced eyes it seemed that the attack [on the Redan] was never ‘meant’.
1906 U. Sinclair Jungle xvii. 196 The crowd had already given Jurgis a name—they called him ‘the stinker’. This was cruel, but they meant no harm by it.
1991 ‘W. Trevor’ Reading Turgenev i, in Two Lives (1992) 1 They mean no harm; they are not against her; in their confusion they become carried away.
b. transitive. With infinitive as object: to intend or be determined to do something.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > intention > intend [verb (transitive)]
willeOE
meaneOE
minteOE
i-muntec1000
thinkOE
ettlea1200
intenta1300
meanc1330
forn-castc1374
intendc1374
ettlea1400
drive1425
proposec1425
purpose1433
attend1455
suppose1474
pretend1477
mindc1478
minda1513
pretence1565
appurpose1569
to drive at ——1574
thought to1578
hight1579
pretent1587
fore-intend1622
pre-intend1647
design1655
study1663
contemplate1794
purport1803
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) 7089 (MED) Segremor, no his fer, No miȝt flen..& hadden ment hem to ȝeld.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 15 (MED) That is love, of which I mene To trete.
c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 5932 (MED) Þoo had kyng Alisaunder yment..Þe cee haue ypassed aȝein.
?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 171 (MED) Cruel knyghtys þi childe haue ment with swerde to sle.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. lxxv The Duke of Saxon, and the Lantgraue,..ment to go home.
1567 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 515 Hir Majestie menit to subvert the lawis.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 40 These cut-throates..meant presently to returne.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. ix. vi. 358 I did not mean to abuse the Cloth. View more context for this quotation
1773 O. Goldsmith She stoops to Conquer iv. 71 You only mean to banter me?
1822 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 12 783 I do not mean to say that they are plagiarized.
1845 W. Napier Conquest Scinde ii. viii. 455 The Beloochs certainly meaned to break out with a counter attack.
1895 Sir A. Kekewich in Law Times Rep. 73 663/2 We must not jump to the conclusion that the Legislature meant to interfere with contracts.
1941 J. Rhys Let. 1 Mar. (1984) 35 I didn't mean to be rude last Wednesday.
1987 F. Wyndham Other Garden viii. 96 I quite forgot to take out a dog licence for him—or rather I kept on meaning to but just never got round to it.
2. intransitive. With well, ill, etc.: to have intentions or a general disposition of the kind indicated (now often implying that such intentions are unfulfilled in practice). Also with to, by, or †with indirect object.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > intention > intend [verb (intransitive)]
minOE
howOE
intenta1300
meana1375
intend1390
purposea1400
aimc1450
collime1677
design1749
the mind > will > intention > intend [verb (intransitive)] > ironically
mean1813
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 1819 (MED) It were a botles bale, but beter haue i ment.
c1385 G. Chaucer Knight's Tale 2287 To hym that meneth wel, it were no charge.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) iii. 164 Bysechyng hym..þat he Wolde..eke menen wel to me.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 332 Menyn yn herte, wel or evyl, intendo.
a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) 1986 (MED) But how I speke, algate I mene weel.
a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 13 (MED) We do wel & mene wel.
a1592 R. Greene Frier Bacon (1594) sig. C4 Now shall Edward trie, How Lacie meaneth to his soueraigne lord.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iv. iii. 22 If you meane well Now go with me. View more context for this quotation
1628 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. xiv. sig. D2 He..puts himselfe to a great deale of affliction to hinder their plots, and designes where they meane freely.
a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 58 The purest Business of our Zeal Is but to err, by meaning well.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 257 You seem to mean honestly.
1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. xlv. 168 They, who object to..[his] last letter, either do not mean him fairly, or [etc.].
1802 T. Beddoes Hygëia I. ii. 34 The projector of a new domestic medicine, meaning well by himself and the public.
1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice III. v. 108 Perhaps she meant well, but, under such a misfortune as this, one cannot see too little of one's neighbours. View more context for this quotation
1884 H. R. Haggard Dawn I. ii. 29 I do not think that your cousin means kindly by you.
1910 R. Brooke Let. 9 Jan. (1968) 206 He is a silly man... Yet he means well.
1973 S. B. Jackman Guns covered with Flowers x. 159 He smiled apologetically, ‘He means well’. Stevens grinned. ‘And you can't say worse than that about anyone.’
1987 D. Rowe Beyond Fear iii. 106 They were merely human, and being so, prone to mistakes, like meaning well and getting it wrong.
3.
a. transitive. Usually in passive. To design (a thing) for a definite purpose; to intend or predestine (a person or thing) to have a particular future, fate, nature, or use. With against, for, †to, †unto, or (occasionally) indirect object. In quot. 1655 with complement: †to predestine to be (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > intention > intend [verb (transitive)] > intend or be intended for a purpose
goOE
framea1400
purpose?c1425
meanc1450
destinea1533
destinate1555
intend1600
calculate1639
c1450 (a1375) Octavian (Calig.) (1979) 1953 (MED) Þe old empresse..hadde þe same jugement, Þat sche to Florance hadde yment.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccxlijv This warre is not ment nor prepared against the Cyties.
1580 Sir P. Sidney tr. Psalmes David xxvii. v When greate griefes to me be ment, In tabernacle his, he will Hide me.
1611 Bible (King James) Gen. l. 20 God meant it vnto good. View more context for this quotation
1637 J. Milton Comus 26 She [sc. Nature] good cateresse Means her provision only to the good That live according to her sober laws.
1642 J. Denham Cooper's Hill 16 Faire Liberty pursude, and meant a Prey To tyranny, here turn'd.
1655 J. Shirley Gentleman of Venice v. ii Providence..made me worth a strangers piety, Whom your cho[i]ce meant the ruine of my honor.
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 172. ⁋1 I do not mean it an Injury to Women, when I say there is a Sort of Sex in Souls.
1767 P. V. Fithian Jrnl. & Lett. (1900) 74 He meant it for a Satire upon the neglect of the people in suffering their Grave-Yard to lie common.
1792 J. Barlow Conspiracy of Kings 83 Why to small realms for ever rest confin'd Our great affections, meant for all mankind?
1842 R. Browning Through the Metidja in Bells & Pomegranates No. III: Dramatic Lyrics v Ere I pried, she [sc. Fate] should hide..All that's meant me.
1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 57 I think Fate meant us for each other.
1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad lxii. 91 Say, for what were hop-yards meant, Or why was Burton built on Trent?
1924 M. Baring C xii. 138 His plays are meant for drawing-rooms.
1958 R. K. Narayan Guide iii. 33 We passed through the corridor, peeping into the room meant for the stationmaster.
1984 P. Ackroyd T. S. Eliot ii. 46 Such natures are not meant for restless drifting because they are destroyed by it.
b. transitive. With infinitive: to predestine, design, or intend (a person or thing) to be or do something. Frequently in passive.
ΚΠ
1570 Act 13 Eliz. c. 25 §8 The said Acte..is not meant to extend..to any Wynes Oyles Sugers.
1589 R. Lane in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations iii. 737 The barkes, pinnesses, and boates with the Masters and Mariners ment by him to bee left in the Countrie.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iv. i. 181 Man..was not meant to gape or looke upward with the eye. View more context for this quotation
1745 E. Young Complaint: Night the Eighth 30 Wisdom,..Was meant to minister, and not to mar, Imperial Pleasure.
1785 T. Jefferson Notes Virginia xiii. 222 We might conclude that, by their affixing to it a sense synonimous with ordinance, or statute, they meant it to be an ordinance or statute.
1817 J. Austen Sanditon vii, in Minor Wks. (1954) 402 How far Nature meant them to be respectable I cannot tell.
1847 E. Brontë Wuthering Heights II. x. 222 I began in a serious tone, partly meaning it to be true.
1888 L. Spender Kept Secret III. i. 15 I did not mean you to take me in earnest.
1900 J. Conrad Lord Jim i. 3 His incognito..was not meant to hide a personality but a fact.
1955 T. Sterling Evil of Day viii. 80 The boy-next-door parody was meant to amuse her.
1996 C. Bateman Of Wee Sweetie Mice & Men v. 43 I didn't mean it to come out quite so sharp.
c. In passive. to be meant: to be predestined by fate, providence, God, etc., to exist or occur.
(a) transitive. With to be.
ΚΠ
1861 ‘G. Eliot’ Silas Marner xvii. 312 When you saw a thing was not meant to be, said Nancy, it was a bounden duty to leave off so much as wishing for it.
1962 G. Corso Long live Man 60 Every man who has ever lived was meant to be.
1989 M. Beattie Beyond Codependency iv. xiii. 147 ‘If it's meant to be, it'll be.’.. These sayings did not reach the lofty state of clichehood without passing the tests of truth and time.
1997 Eastern Eye 14 Feb. 20/3 (advt.) If you'd like to take a chance with me then write and we'll see if it's really meant to be (Inshallah).
(b) transitive. Without clause. (Sometimes used more or less adjectivally.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > necessity > fate or destiny as determining events > [verb (passive)] > be destined by fate
to be meant1897
1897 R. Kipling Captains Courageous viii, in McClure's Mag. Feb. 354/1 It couldn't have been meant. It was only the tide.
1956 M. Stewart Wildfire at Midnight i. 16 So handy having that address. It's as if it were meant.
1974 I. Murdoch Sacred & Profane Love Machine 239 When I need you, you are here. You must see how meant it all is.
1986 K. Moore Moving House viii. 94 Coincidence, she held, was just chance, not ‘sent’ or ‘meant’.
d. transitive. In passive, with infinitive clause: to be reputed, considered, said to be something. Cf. suppose v. 9a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > evaluation, estimation, appraisal > appraise, estimate [verb (transitive)] > consider to be, account as
telleOE
talec897
seeOE
letc1000
holdc1200
reckon1340
aima1382
accounta1387
counta1387
judgec1390
takea1400
countc1400
receivec1400
existimatec1430
to look on ——?c1430
makec1440
reputea1449
suppose1474
treatc1485
determinea1513
recount?c1525
esteem1526
believe1533
estimate?1533
ascribe1535
consider1539
regard1547
count1553
to look upon ——1553
take1561
reck1567
eye?1593
censure1597
subscribe1600
perhibit1613
behold1642
resent1642
attributea1657
fancy1662
vogue1675
decount1762
to put down1788
to set down1798
rate1854
have1867
mean1878
1878 R. Simpson School of Shakspere I. 34 It is confessed that Hawkins and Cobham were meant to be buccaneers, and it is absurd to deny the like of Stucley.
1945 Queen 18 Apr. 17/1 ‘Such and such a play,’ they [sc. my children] will say, ‘is meant to be jolly good.’
1972 Listener 9 Mar. 310/1 America..is meant to be a great melting-pot.
1989 Times 30 Mar. 15/1 It [sc. evening primrose oil] is also meant to be good for arthritis.
4. transitive. To intend (a remark, allusion, etc.) to have a particular reference. With †at, †by, for, of, †to. Also intransitive in †to mean by: to intend to refer to (obsolete). Now rare.In the 16th cent. ‘to mean (a remark, etc.) by (a person)’ was the usual expression for ‘to mean (a person) by (a remark, etc.)’ (as in sense 6).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > meaning of linguistic unit > mean, signify, express [verb (transitive)] > make reference to
to shoot atc1407
mean1513
to have respect to1542
to intend at1572
eye1594
to turn upon ——1697
to turn on ——1765
1513 T. More Hist. Edward V in Wks. 55/2 That ment he by the lordes of the quenes kindred that were taken before.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 230v He saied that he would leaue..suche a successour... Menyng by Tiberius.
1570 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xix. 8 Gone is the Joy and gyde of this Natioun; I mene be James, Regent of Scotland.
a1599 E. Spenser View State Ireland 21, in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) I doe not meane this by the Princes wards.
1656 R. Sanderson 20 Serm. 255 A flaunting hyperbole, farr beyond the merit of the party he meant it to.
1749 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 27 Sept. (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1406 He..thinks everything that is said meant at him.
1753 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 15 Jan. (1932) (modernized text) V. 1995 They are convinced that it was meant at them.
1904 H. O. Sturgis Belchamber ix. 129 There is a young don in the story, and of course some one..decided it was meant for me.
1906 N.E.D. (at cited word) I wonder whether he meant it of any one in particular.
5.
a. do you mean to say (also to tell me) and variants (with following clause): expressing the speaker's surprise or scepticism at a statement, suggestion, implication, etc. Also (usually less strongly) you don't mean to say (also to tell me) and variants.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > disbelief, incredulity > expressing disbelief [phrase]
do you mean to say (also to tell me)1763
you don't mean to say (also to tell me)1763
tell that to the marines1806
in a horn1847
you are (or have got to be) joking1907
tie that bull outside or to another ashcan1921
you could have fooled me1926
you wouldn't read about it1950
pull the other one (it's got bells on)1966
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > exclamation of surprise [interjection] > in response to statement
do you mean to say (also to tell me)1763
you don't mean to say (also to tell me)1763
1763 A. Murphy Citizen i. ii. 20 Did you mean to say as how I am a person of taste?
1785 T. Holcroft Choleric Fathers i. 14 D. Sal. Sir, I have too much respect to good manners to follow your example. D. Pimi. Do you mean to say, sir, I don't know good manners?
1834 Southern Literary Messenger 1 110 ‘A fraud, sir! do you mean to say I would commit a fraud, sir?’ cried Willis, in an angry tone.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xix. 181 Do you mean to tell me that your pretty niece was not brought here as a decoy..?
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xxix. 288 Why, he don't mean to say he's going!.. Hoity toity! nonsense.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xxxix. 163 ‘You don't mean to say their old wearers are all dead, I hope?’ said Mr. Tappertit, falling a little distance from him, as he spoke. ‘Every one of 'em.’
1899 R. Broughton Game & Candle 129 You do not mean to imply..that Mrs. Grundy is going to interpose between you and me?
1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xx. 230 Anne Shirley, do you mean to tell me you believe all that wicked nonsense of your own imagination?
1944 H. Croome You've gone Astray xxi. 209 Do you mean to say that in this day and age..you're going to come the conventional?
1986 F. Peretti This Present Darkness ix. 87 Do you mean to say you've uncovered something new?
b. colloquial (chiefly British). I mean to say: used parenthetically or as an exclamation, usually to emphasize the speaker's sincerity or concern, or to indicate indignation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > sincere emotion > expression of sincerity [phrase]
I mean to say1843
1843 C. Dickens Christmas Carol i. 21 You may talk vaguely about driving a coach-and-six up a good old flight of stairs..; but I mean to say you might have got a hearse up that staircase, and taken it broadwise.
1923 P. G. Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves i. 7 So dashed competent in every respect... I mean to say, take just one small instance.
1963 D. Lessing Man & Two Women 141 I mean to say, you've got to take the rough with the smooth.
1984 B. MacLaverty Cal (new ed.) 96 I've a good mind to pay you off here and now... I mean to say, you're working here a fortnight and you break into our property and scare the living daylights out of us.
1991 M. Kilby Man at Sharp End 261 ‘Well it's fairly obvious that you can't go back to the plant, innit?’ agreed his platinum blonde flatmate Deirdre. ‘Well I mean to say..it stands to reason like..don't it?’ she added.
II. To signify; to convey or carry a meaning, significance, consequence, etc.
6.
a. transitive. To indicate or signify (a certain object), or to convey (a certain sense), when using some word, sentence, significant action, etc. Sometimes with clause as object (often an indirect question introduced by what). Now often with about, by.how do you mean: see how adv. 2.
ΚΠ
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xiii. 132 Crist mænde ðone ecan deað, to þam ne becumað, þa ðe his bebodu healdað, and ða iudeiscan mændon þisne andweardan deað, ðam ne ætwint nan eorðlic mann.
OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xviii. 20 God þa geopenode Abrahame hwæt he mid þære spræce mænde.
c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 26 Heo æt hire witon wolden hwæt heo mid þam worde mende, þet heo crist nemnen scolde.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 11 Wat þe holie apostle meneð þo he nemnede niht and niehtes dede.
a1300 Woman of Samaria l. 27 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 85 (MED) Heo nuste hwat heo mende; heo wes of wytte poure.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 560 Ȝif i..told him..þe entecches of myn euele..he ne schold in no wise wite what i mente.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 12631 Quat he wit þis wordes ment, Graithli wist þai noght þe entent.
1415 T. Hoccleve Addr. to Sir John Oldcastle l. 1 in Minor Poems (1970) i. 8 The laddre of heuene, I meene charitee.
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 6 And sum men seien þat Crist meenide þat he himsilf..is more þan Joon Baptist.
c1480 (a1400) St. Barnabas 89 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 251 Gyf ȝe will wit quhat ve meyne.
a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) i. Prol. 387 Tuichand our tongis penurite, I mene onto compair of fair Latyne [etc.].
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 444/2 He becked at me, but I wyste nat what he ment.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 68 The twelfth day..wee rode foure miles (meaning Dutch miles).
1644 K. Digby Two Treat. i. xviii. 158 When we haue examined this, we shall vnderstand in what sense it is meaned that Nature abhorreth from Vacuity.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd ii. 28 Mean while the new-baptiz'd,..I mean Andrew and Simon... Began to doubt. View more context for this quotation
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 136. ⁋4 I mean by this Town the Cities of London and Westminster.
1782 J. H. St. J. de Crèvecoeur Lett. from Amer. Farmer iii. 107 I know nothing of what you mean about lease, improvement, will, jury, etc.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia III. v. iv. 53 In both which [sc. reproof and compliment] more seemed meant than met the ear.
1826 W. Cobbett Rural Rides in Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 7 Oct. 82 And what is meaned by ‘fear of the Lord’?
1854 W. M. Thackeray Newcomes I. xxix. 287 What the devil do you mean about your Chimène and your Rodrigue?
1895 Sir A. Kekewich in Law Times Rep. 73 663/1 The Act does not mean literally what it says.
1930 G. B. Shaw Apple Cart i. 16 What do you mean? Isn't it what I have always said?
1968 E. Bowen Eva Trout (1969) ii. iv. 284 ‘You're not coming in?’ asked Henry, meaning, into the vicarage.
1986 D. W. Winnicott Ess. i. 14 But what is meant by science? This is a question that has often been asked.
b. transitive. In interrogative contexts, usually rhetorically (as in questions of the form what do you mean by ——): to signify by an action; (hence, by implication) to have as a motive or justification for an action.Usually expressing criticism or indignation.
ΚΠ
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique iii. f. 91 I maruaile sir what you meane to be euer snarringe at me.
1564 W. Bullein Dialogue against Fever Pestilence f. 12v What meaneth hee by winckyng like a Goose in the raine?
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones II. vi. vi. 266 ‘What do you mean by running on in this Manner to me?’ cries Sophia. View more context for this quotation
1792 F. Burney Let. Jan. in Jrnls. & Lett. (1972) I. 109 ‘What you mean by going Home?’ cried she, somewhat deridingly.
1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities ii. i. 35 What do you mean by flopping yourself down and praying agin me?
1892 Mrs. H. Ward David Grieve I. 294 What, no top-coat in such weather! What do you mean by that, sir? You're wet through.
1926 E. Ferber Show Boat xix. 385 Nola darling, you've just gone gaga, that's all. What do you mean by staying down there in that wretched malarial heat!
1967 M. Glenny tr. M. Bulgakov Master & Margarita i. iv. 62 What do you mean by upsetting this foreign tourist?
1992 N.Y. Times 5 May d9/5 ‘What do you mean by going away?’ he asks the waitress. ‘How about suggesting an ice cream, or coffee, or some cakes?’
c. transitive. To be in earnest in saying. to mean what one says: to speak truthfully, sincerely, or with determination. to mean it: to be in earnest regarding one's words or (in extended use) actions.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > sincerity, freedom from deceit > act or speak sincerely [verb (intransitive)]
to open one's budget1548
to wear one's heart on one's tongue (also in one's mouth)?1576
truthify1647
to mean what one says1750
to let it all hang out1970
the mind > will > decision > resolution or determination > [verb (transitive)] > mean what one says
mean1750
the mind > will > decision > resolution or determination > be resolute or determined [verb (intransitive)] > be in earnest > mean what one says
to mean it1750
to mean what one says1750
1750 M. Jones Let. in Misc. in Prose & Verse 378 I am entirely satisfy'd with every thing you say or do; am convinc'd..that you mean all you say.
1840 J. H. Newman Parochial Serm. V. iii. 51 Let us aim at meaning what we say, and saying what we mean.
1854 C. Dickens Hard Times ii. viii. 213 ‘The Bank's robbed!’ ‘You don't mean it!’
1876 H. James Roderick Hudson xi. 398 I was unkind yesterday, without meaning it.
1906 R. E. Knowles Undertow xxiii. 299 ‘What do you mean, Hiram?’.. ‘I mean what I say.’
1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xiii. 127 When I tell you to come in at a certain time I mean that time and not half an hour later.
1952 E. O'Neill Moon for Misbegotten i. 65 It's good to hear him laugh as if he meant it.
1973 J. Wainwright Pride of Pigs 158 It was a very special room... Fire-proof. And I mean fire-proof. Built to contain a furnace.
1987 ‘A. T. Ellis’ Clothes in Wardrobe 76 He still listened, but now..not believing that I meant what I said.
d. transitive. colloquial. (if) you know (also see, understand) what I mean: expressing a hope that one has been understood (esp. when one has spoken imprecisely, circumspectly, or euphemistically). Now also know what I mean: used as an intensifier, or appended to a statement by way of innuendo or insinuation, or as a filler.
ΚΠ
1575 W. Stevenson Gammer Gurtons Nedle v. ii. sig. Eiiiv For feare of Hobgobling, you wot wel what I meane, As long as it is sence, I feare me yet ye be scarce cleane.]
1846 G. E. Jewsbury Sel. Lett. to J. W. Carlyle (1892) 203 There would be a want of reverence in it, if you understand what I mean.
1874 A. Trollope Phineas Redux II. xvii. 134 I'm afraid it is far fetched, Ma'am—if you understand what I mean.
1919 P. G. Wodehouse Damsel in Distress x There's nobody I think a more corking sportsman than Maud, if you know what I mean, but..I'm most frightfully in love with somebody else.
1961 J. Heller Catch-22 (1962) iv. 33 A little grease is what makes this world go round. One hand washes the other. Know what I mean? You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.
1968 Guardian 24 Apr. 9/8 If I thought..he was going to back-chat me like he does now..I'd half-kill him now, you know what I mean?
1974 Sunday Times 20 Jan. 12/4 [He'll] be only too keen to get back to his boat, if you see what I mean.
1995 Smash Hits 29 Mar. 14/4 A couple of my old mates let someone down, and they just got beaten up and darked, know what I mean?
e. intransitive. I mean: used parenthetically in conversation (or in writing imitating conversational style) as a filler, with little or no explanatory force.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > conversation > [phrase] > specific conversational fillers
I mean1892
anyway1947
1892 I. Zangwill Children of Ghetto I. 223 Tank Gawd! I mean, can I see him?
1938 N. Marsh Artists in Crime ix. 122 I mean, it was only once ages ago, after a party, and I mean I think men and women ought to be free to follow their sex-impulses anyway.
1951 J. D. Salinger Catcher in Rye xi. 92 I knew her like a book. I really did. I mean, besides checkers, she was quite fond of all athletic sports.
1972 G. Chapman et al. Monty Python's Flying Circus (1989) II. xxvii. 50 Well I mean a lot of these things that are happening, well they just don't quite ring true.
1992 L. Woidwode Indian Affairs vi. 120 You know, like, uh, hey, man, I mean, cool, huh?
f. intransitive. To convey meaning, to signify.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > mean [verb (intransitive)]
bea1200
understand?c1425
sense1564
interpret1614
magnify1712
to speak for itself1779
to add up to1873
mean1926
1926 A. MacLeish Ars Poetica in Streets in Moon 38 A poem should be motionless in time... A poem should not mean But be.
1940 H. G. Wells Babes in Darkling Wood ii. iii. 211 See that your words mean. Half the time they don't mean.
1957 G. Ryle in M. Black Importance Lang. (1962) 162 Expressions do not mean because they denote things.
7. transitive. Of a thing, word, or statement: to have as signification; to signify, import; to portend. Also with clause as object (often an indirect question introduced by what).In quot. eOE1 at sense 1a it is not entirely clear whether the speaker is the riddle or Saturn; if the latter, then this would be an example of sense 6a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > mean [verb (transitive)]
meaneOE
beholdc1175
spele?c1225
bemeana1300
amountc1300
willa1382
import1425
employ1528
intend?c1530
would say1564
understand1617
spella1661
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > meaning of linguistic unit > mean, signify, express [verb (transitive)]
tokenc888
meaneOE
sayOE
bequeathc1175
signifya1382
beara1400
bemeana1400
soundc1400
designc1429
applyc1450
betoken1502
express1526
conveya1568
intend1572
carry1584
denotate1597
pronounce1610
to set out1628
implya1640
speak1645
denote1668
designate1741
describe1808
enunciate1859
read1894
eOE Metrical Dialogue of Solomon & Saturn (Corpus Cambr. 422) ii. 237 Saga hwæt ic [sc. a riddle] mæne.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xii. 277 Oft gehwa gesihð fægere stafas awritene..& nat hwæt hi mænað.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 5503 Swa þatt teȝȝ muȝhenn shæwenn ȝuw All whatt itt seȝȝþ. & meneþþ.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 8 Þei wist what it ment.
a1425 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Galba) 25395 ‘Amen’, þat menes, ‘so mot it be’.
1475 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 376 Som off them..wote full lytyll what yt meneth to be as a saugere.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. xixv The Kynge grauntyd to the sayd Cytezyns of Lodon [sic] wareyn, that is to meane that ye cytezyns haue free lybertye of Huntynge certayne cyrcuyte aboute London.
1557 T. North tr. A. de Guevara Diall Princes 345 From the time I knew what meaned to governe a common weale, I have alwayes [etc.].
1597 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 591 Experience came in and speirit, quhat all the matter meind.
1611 Bible (King James) Gen. xxi. 29 What meane these seuen ewe lambes, which thou hast set by themselues? View more context for this quotation
1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 234 His Armes were neuer Infortunate; neither did hee know what a Disaster meant.
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. (1655) x. 35 They knew not what money meaned.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 879 But say, what mean those colourd streaks in Heavn. View more context for this quotation
1764 K. O'Hara Midas i. 5 What can this hurly-burly, this helter~skelter mean?
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth xiii, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. III. 341 Eachin MacIan—what means all this?
1874 T. Hardy Far from Madding Crowd II. xi. 124 Oh! that meant nothing—a mere jest.
1908 E. F. Benson Climber 135 She had but a few babbling words in the tongues in which he was so glib, but her words meant something; they signified.
1940 J. Buchan Memory Hold-the-Door i. 13 To me as a child, autumn meant the thick, close odour of rotting leaves.
1993 L. Watson Montana 1948 i. 22 Wilderness meant, to me, getting out of town and into the country.
8. transitive. To require, entail, necessitate; to produce as an effect or result.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > necessity > necessitate [verb (transitive)]
necess?a1425
to call for ——1547
force1551
necessite1596
necessitate1601
oblige1638
necessiate1709
necessity1827
mean1841
the world > existence and causation > causation > [verb (transitive)] > bring about as a consequence or entail
makeOE
haveOE
drawa1400
to draw inc1405
to leave behind1424
goc1449
to draw on1572
train1579
carry1581
beara1616
to lead toa1770
evolve1816
entail1829
mean1841
issue1842
subinduce1855
1841 E. Miall in Nonconformist 1 228 Protection means shutting out the best chapman and the best food.
1851 Tait's Edinb. Mag. 21 490 Resurgent Poland, he says, means resurgent Hungary, and even resurgent Italy.
1894 Times 5 Feb. 8/2 That would mean taking up all the streets in South London.
1927 Passing Show Summer 23/3 Kendal Brown, sorrowfully realising that this would mean a lifer for Bristola Birdseye, ducked his head.
1958 R. Narayan Guide i. 5 It'd have meant walking home at nearly midnight.
1994 Maclean's 17 Oct. 12/1 A third option would be to sharpen the targeting of the child tax benefit, but that would mean less money going to middle-income Canadians.
9. transitive. With modifying word or phrase: to be important to a person to the extent indicated, esp. as a source of benefit or as an object of regard, affection, or love; to matter (a lot, nothing, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [verb (transitive)]
bea1400
forcea1400
to stand (a person) in store?1463
makea1466
concerna1475
nigh1490
import1561
cerna1616
boot1752
mean1860
1860 Atlantic Monthly Mar. 300 I uttered that word [‘wife’] which once meant so much to me, and now seemed such an empty title to bestow on her.
1869 L. M. Alcott Little Women II. xxiii. 337 Dearest, it means so much to me.
1888 Mrs. H. Ward Robert Elsmere II. iv. xxvi. 279 It was only by a great effort that he could turn his thoughts from the Squire, and all that the Squire had meant to him during the past year.
1912 Red Mag. 1 Mar. 515/1 It came over me how much she meant to me and how hard a wrench it was going to be to live along without her.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xiii. [Nausicaa] 346 He would never understand what he had meant to her.
1950 J. Rhys Let. 1–9 May (1984) 81 It means a lot, a friendly word just now.
1988 A. Lurie Truth about Lorin Jones vi. 105 People don't mean that much to Laura.
†III. To mention.
10.
a. transitive. To mention, speak of; to say, tell. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > action of informing > give (information) [verb (transitive)] > inform (a person)
to teach a person a thingc888
meanOE
wiseOE
sayOE
wittera1225
tellc1225
do to witc1275
let witc1275
let seec1330
inform1384
form1399
lerea1400
to wit (a person) to saya1400
learn1425
advertise1431
givec1449
insense?c1450
instruct1489
ascertain1490
let1490
alighta1500
advert1511
signify1523
reform1535
advise1562
partake1565
resolve1568
to do to ware1594
to let into one's knowledge1596
intellect1599
possess1600
acquainta1616
alighten1615
recommenda1616
intelligence1637
apprise1694
appraise1706
introduce1741
avail1785
prime1791
document1807
to put up1811
to put a person au fait of1828
post1847
to keep (someone) straight1862
monish1866
to put next to1896
to put (one) wise (to)1896
voice1898
in the picture1900
to give (someone) a line on1903
to wise up1905
drum1908
hip1932
to fill (someone) in on1945
clue1948
background1961
to mark a person's card1961
to loop in1994
OE Maxims I 65 Widgongel wif word gespringeð, oft hy mon wommum bilihð, hæleð hy hospe mænað.
OE Beowulf 857 Ðær wæs Beowulfes mærðo mæned.
c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 73 We nyton, þeah he mende þat micele wundor, þæt nan synful man ne mihte swylce tacnæ wyrcæn.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 163 Inoh is to seggen swa þet te hali schrift feader witerliche understonde hweat tu wulle meanen.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 8139 Wel ȝe hit maȝen imunen þat ich wulle mæinen.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 345 Þey poetes mene þat Iupiter gildede Saturnus.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 12498 (MED) He had þar-for wel gret pite, And þus to ioseph it mened he.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 141 (MED) The myght of me may no man mene.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. xxxiiii. f. xiiii Gaufride meaneth yt this Sicillius was but vii. yeres of age when his Fader dyed.
a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 756 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 118 Menstralis and musicianis mo yan I mene may.
a1614 J. Melville Autobiogr. & Diary (1842) 250 And when I haid come twyse or thryse na thing was meined to me of that mater be the King.
1747 Lyon in Mourning (1895) II. 218 They flockt about him like bee hives And humbly meant they'd risk their lives..To serve his highness.
1774 D. Graham Impartial Hist. Rebellion (ed. 3) xi. 124 Only his factor, who prov'd a friend, And how to act Miss to him mean'd.
b. intransitive (rarely with indirect object). To speak, tell. Chiefly with by, of, on (Scottish and English regional) (northern). Also (occasionally) transitive (reflexive). Cf. sense 4. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > action of informing > give information [verb (intransitive)]
meanOE
telllOE
to make reportc1425
wrayc1425
wrobc1425
lay1488
inform1569
intelligence1616
advertise1764
OE Guthlac B 1233 Þy læs þæt wundredan weras ond idesa, ond on geað gutan, gieddum mænden bi me lifgendum.
c1225 (?OE) Soul's Addr. to Body (Worcester) (Fragm. G) l. 55 Þet beoþ þeos bearn, so so bec mæneþ.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 1925 (MED) I wol minge of a mater i mennede of bi-fore.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 24878 Hir succur son to ham sco sent, Þat in sli murning on hir ment.
a1500 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Trin. Dublin) 1615 (MED) Þai amervale þaime mekyll as menys me þe writtes [c1450 Ashm. as þe buke tellis].
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 235 I dout that Merche with his caild blastis keyne Hes slane this gentill herbe that I of mene.
1543 ( Chron. J. Hardyng (1812) 153 All these were called Westsex, as Bede ment.
1562 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates i, in Wks. (1888) I. 3 We mein of the pastores of the Kirk.
a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 219 Richt so did he, as my author did meyne.
1625 R. Montagu Appello Cæsarem 196 S. Paul speaketh of Iustification in the attayning it... But S. Iames meaneth of Iustification had and obtained.
†IV. To have an opinion.
11. transitive. With clause as object: to hold or entertain an opinion; to think, imagine, believe. Also (occasionally) intransitive. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > hold an opinion, opine [verb (intransitive)]
thinkOE
letc1200
understand1297
meana1398
esteem1576
intend?1577
opinionate1653
opine1655
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 205v Þey þat vseþ ydromancy meneþ that þey mowe haue answere of god more herde by þat þan by oþere precious stones.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 14686 ‘Þou mas þe godd, and þou art man.’ ‘Soth it es,’ coth iesus þan, ‘Bath i am, qua right wil men.’
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. 6787 Lord,..ȝow þar not wene, why I am comen ȝe may wele mene.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) iii. xvii. 391 Ellis Crist in the alleggid xe. chapiter of Luk schulde haue meened aȝens him silf in the other now alleggid placis.
1533 J. Gau tr. C. Pedersen Richt Vay sig. Gvii Ciprianus menit that ye quyk suld be the saulis.
a1578 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) I. 31 Evirie man menit that it sould redound to his gret hurt.
1637 S. Rutherford Lett. (1863) I. 221 Knots of straw and things (as they mean) off the way to heaven.
†V. To remember.
12. To have in mind; to remember.
a. transitive. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 6674 Sone, menest þou nat what y er seyd?
c1440 (a1400) Awntyrs Arthure (Thornton) 229 (MED) Gyffe me grace for to..mene [a1500 Douce mynge] the with messes and matynnes one morne.
a1450 York Plays (1885) 93 Grete meruell es to mene, Howe man was made.
a1500 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Trin. Dublin) 2956 (MED) Anepo..on Alexander alway byholdes, Þen menys onys in massydon he had þe man knawyn.
b. transitive (impersonal), as me meaneth. To remember, recollect. Also reflexive. Chiefly with of. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > call to mind, recollect [verb (transitive)]
i-thenchec897
bethinkOE
mingOE
thinkOE
monelOE
umbethinkc1175
to draw (also take) into (or to) memorya1275
minc1330
record1340
revert1340
remembera1382
mindc1384
monishc1384
to bring to mindc1390
remenec1390
me meanetha1400
reducec1425
to call to mind1427
gaincall1434
pense1493
remord?1507
revocate1527
revive1531
cite1549
to call back1572
recall1579
to call to mind (also memory, remembrance)1583
to call to remembrance1583
revoke1586
reverse1590
submonish1591
recover1602
recordate1603
to call up1606
to fetch up1608
reconjure1611
collect1612
remind1615
recollect1631
rememorize1632
retrieve1644
think1671
reconnoitre1729
member1823
reminisce1829
rememorate1835
recomember1852
evoke1856
updraw1879
withcall1901
access1978
the mind > mental capacity > memory > remember [verb (impersonal)]
me minsc1175
me meanetha1400
(it) remembers mea1450
remember1608
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 16889 Vs meins quils he was in lijf þat we herd him sai þat [etc.].
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 5274 (MED) Ne menis ȝou noght..Of a drem ful lang siþen gan?
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. 1834 He recouerde his strength for tene; of scathe he wild hym nomore mene.
c1450 (?c1425) St. Elizabeth of Spalbeck in Anglia (1885) 8 118 Atte a dewe oure, and, as me meniþ, bytwix sexte and noon.
a1500 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Trin. Dublin) 1625 (MED) In þe marche of masydon me menys on a tyme, Suche a segh in my slepe me sodenly appered.
c. intransitive. Chiefly with of, on, upon. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > have in one's mind, remember [verb (intransitive)]
monelOE
to have memory (of)a1275
recorda1382
remembera1393
mina1400
meana1425
to have‥in urec1450
to be remembereda1500
minda1500
retain1581
rememorate1606
reminisce1896
a1425 (?a1350) Gospel of Nicodemus (Galba) (1907) 123 (MED) Of Emperoures..þis was used..for folk suld on [v.r. of] þair menskes mene.
1442 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 397 It is to mene apon that..Robert Masoun, and Gilbert Masoun, oblist them..til a honourable knight.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xii. 269 Menys on ȝour gret manheid.
?a1500 W. Lichefeld Complaint of God (Lamb. 306) 221 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 204 (MED) Of sodome and gomer the ought to meene, howe I made fyre and brymston falle.
a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) xi. Prol. 172 Allthocht his lord wald meyne On his ald seruis.
c1580 tr. Bk. Alexander (1831) 67 Mene vpon ȝour hecht.
1655 J. Clarke Phraseologia Puerilis (ed. 3) 16 Post hominum memoriam. Ever since man could mean.
†VI. To go towards. (Probably conveying a strong idea of intentionality; cf. branch I.)
13. transitive. To advance on, attack; to threaten. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > threat or threatening > threaten [verb (intransitive)]
threaten1297
threatc1300
menacec1384
meanc1425
c1425 (c1400) Laud Troy-bk. 4172 (MED) Gret schame it is..That we durst neuere Troye mene, Ne neuere durst we hit ones se.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 7111 He..comaundit hom..To go bake fro þe batell..And mene hym no more, ne hor men kylle.
14.
a. intransitive. To go (towards); to make one's way. to be meant: to be bound for a specified place or direction. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
c1450 (c1400) Sowdon of Babylon (1881) 784 (MED) Lordynges, whens come ye And whider ye are mente, telle vs this tyde.
a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 1 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 95 At morne as I ment Throwe myrth markit on mold till a grene meid.
1543 ( Chron. J. Hardyng (1812) 34 (MED) With shippes xii to Italy had they mente.
1568 W. Stewart in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS f. 265 Furth ouer the mold at morrow as I ment Withowttin feir to tak the helsum air.
1584 King James VI & I Poems (1955) I. 19 So I amongst the paths vpon that hill..Did stay confusde, in doubt what way to mene.
b. transitive. To aim at, direct one's way to. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > direction > direct [verb (transitive)] > aim at
mete1598
rove1598
levy1618
mean1633
to cover (with a gun, pistol, etc.)1693
to draw a bead upon1831
target1837
sight1871
bead1888
1633 G. Herbert Church Porch in Temple lvi Who aimeth at the sky Shoots higher much than he that means a tree.
1706 I. Watts Horæ Lyricæ i. 100 The muse ascends her heavenly car, And climbs the steepy path and means the throne divine.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

meanv.2

Brit. /miːn/, U.S. /min/, Scottish English /min/, /men/, Irish English /miːn/
Forms: Old English mænan, Old English menan (Anglian), Middle English mæne, Middle English maine, Middle English meane, Middle English meene, Middle English men, Middle English meyn, Middle English meyne, Middle English–1600s mene, Middle English– mean; English regional (northern) 1700s– mean, 1800s– meean, 1800s– meen, 1800s– meon; Scottish pre-1700 meen, pre-1700 meene, pre-1700 men, pre-1700 menn, pre-1700 meyn, pre-1700 meyne, pre-1700 1700s–1800s meane, pre-1700 1700s–1800s mein, pre-1700 1700s–1800s meine, pre-1700 1700s– mean, pre-1700 1700s– mene. Past tense

α. Old English–early Middle English mænde, Old English (Anglian)–Middle English mende, Middle English mænet, Middle English meande, Middle English meaned, Middle English meind, Middle English mened, Middle English menet, Middle English menid, Middle English menide, Middle English menit, Middle English mennit, Middle English menyd, Middle English menyde, Middle English meynyd; Scottish pre-1700 meanit, pre-1700 meened, pre-1700 meined, pre-1700 menit, pre-1700 menyd, pre-1700 menyt, pre-1700 1700s– meaned, 1800s menyed (transmission error).

β. Middle English ment, Middle English mente; Scottish pre-1700 mynt.

Past participle

α. Middle English mened; Scottish pre-1700 meanid, pre-1700 meanit, pre-1700 meind, pre-1700 menit, pre-1700 menyd, pre-1700 menyt, pre-1700 meynit, pre-1700 1800s meined, 1700s– meaned.

β. Middle English mente; Scottish pre-1700 ment.

Origin: Perhaps a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: mean v.1
Etymology: Perhaps originally the same word as mean v.1 (see discussion s.v. moan n.). Compare bemoan v.In Old English the prefixed form gemǣnan is also attested. In Scots this word, when pronounced /men/, has merged with moan v. (see forms s.v. for Older Scots mane and its reflexes). Compare mean n.2
Now Scottish, Irish English, and English regional (northern).
1.
a. transitive. To complain of or lament (something); to lament for (a dead person).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > lament or express grief for [verb (transitive)]
sorroweOE
meaneOE
bemournOE
mournOE
bemoanc1000
ofthink?c1225
bequeatha1325
moana1325
plain1340
wail1362
bewailc1374
complainc1374
waymenta1400
grievec1400
sorrowa1425
regratec1480
lament1535
deplore1567
dole1567
condole1607
pine1667
rave1810
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > lamentation or expression of grief for death > lament the death of [verb (transitive)]
bestandc1000
bewailc1300
mourna1382
wail1382
regratec1480
meana1522
eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) v. xii. 126 Iulius..wepende mænde þa unare þe him mon buton gewyrhton dyde.
OE Beowulf 3149 Higum unrote modceare mændon, mondryhtnes cwealm.
OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) iv. xxxii. 307 Eall his hired hine deadne weopon & mændon.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 33 (MED) Gif þu me dest woh..ic hit mene to mine lauerde.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 116 Ȝef ha eadmodliche meande hire neode.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 2438 Swiðe heo hit mænde to alle monnen.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 2596 My gret unese full ofte I meene.
c1480 (a1400) St. Matthias 203 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 228 Scho menyt ofte rycht sare hyr a sowne.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) ix. 300 Eftir that, neir fifty ȝheir, Men menyt the heirschip of Bouchane.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) ix. v. 157 The Troianis..With tender hartis menand Ewrialus.
c1540 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. xii. xiii. f. 182/2 Becaus this Duncane wes ane tyrane..few menit his slauchter.
c1598 King James VI & I Basilicon Doron (1944) I. ii. 57 His fall is littill meanid be the rest of his subiectis.
1619 in W. K. Tweedie Select Biogr. (1845) I. 111 He never said ‘Alace!’ or meaned any pain.
1715 A. Pennecuik Curious Coll. Scotish Poems in Geogr., Hist. Descr. Tweeddale App. 92 His sad Affront was sairly mean'd, As an of their Society.
1922 T. S. Cairncross Scot at Hame 2 Oh! the speaned lambs mene their mithers As they wimple ower the bent.
b. transitive. To pity or comfort.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > compassion > feel pity for [verb (transitive)]
bireusyc1000
ruea1200
aruec1220
meanc1225
birewea1300
pity?a1475
compassionate1598
passionate1638
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 14 (MED) Alle þe þear weren..remden of reowðe ant meanden þes meiden.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 1490 (MED) Whan hit was wist..þat william was sek, mochel was he mened of more & of lasse.
c1450 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 186 (MED) If þou be sijk, y schal þee hele; If þou moorne ouȝt, y schal þee meene [v.r. be-mene].
?1507 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen (Rouen) in Poems (1998) I. 54 I am so mercifull in mynd, and menys all wichtis.
1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) xxvi. 32 Thay wald be menit, and no man menis.
a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 541 The husband men full lytill now ar ment, Quhome be we ar vphaldin and sustent.
1603 Philotus clxv. sig. F3v I grant indeid thair will na man me meine, For I my self am authour of my greif.
a1743 J. Relph Misc. of Poems (1747) 17 Pretendin some unlucky wramp or strean For Cursty's kind guid-natured heart to mean.
1832 A. Henderson Sc. Prov. 25 Condeme him not, bot aye him meine, For kindness that before has been.
1923 Banffshire Jrnl. 8 May 10 ‘Fatna a bonnie prayer the minister pat up the day.’.. ‘Deil mean him! it's his tryde.’
c. transitive. to be to mean: to be deplored or pitied.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > compassion > quality of exciting pity > to be pitied [phrase]
to be to mean?c1225
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 158 For þi habeoð þe lasse tomeanen [c1230 Corpus to meanen; a1250 Titus to meane; a1250 Nero te menen] þet ha biforen hond leorneð hare meoster to makien grim chere.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 335 (MED) Allas! it was to mene, his vertuz & his pruesse..þat perist for falsnesse.
a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. 16 Quhairfoir thair mister wes the moir to mene.
1719 A. Ramsay 3rd Answer to Hamilton x An fowk can get A doll of rost beef..And be na sick..They're no to mean.
1788 R. Galloway Poems 132 Yes, said the king, we're no to mean, We live baith warm, and snug, and bien.
1823 J. Galt Entail I. xxi. 177 Charlie's no to mean wi' his match.
1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes & Knowes 5 Folk are muckle ti mean that beide on aether seide o the Mairches atween twae prood an towty countries 'at canna grei an are aye cuissen-oot.
†d. transitive. With cognate object. to mean one's moan (also complaint): to complain, lament; to voice one's distress. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > displeasure > discontent or dissatisfaction > state of complaining > complain [verb (intransitive)]
murkeOE
misspeakOE
yomer971
chidea1000
murkenOE
grutch?c1225
mean?a1300
hum13..
plainta1325
gruntc1325
plainc1325
musea1382
murmurc1390
complain1393
contrary1393
flitec1400
pinea1425
grummec1430
aggrudge1440
hoinec1440
mutterc1450
grudge1461
channerc1480
grunch1487
repine1529
storm?1553
expostulate1561
grumblea1586
gruntle1591
chunter1599
swagger1599
maunder1622
orp1634
objurgate1642
pitter1672
yelp1706
yammer1794
natter1804
murgeon1808
groan1816
squawk1875
jower1879
grouse1887
beef1888
to whip the cat1892
holler1904
yip1907
peeve1912
grouch1916
nark1916
to sound off1918
create1919
moana1922
crib1925
tick1925
bitch1930
gripe1932
bind1942
drip1942
kvetchc1950
to rag on1979
wrinch2011
?a1300 Maximian (Digby) 31 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 93 (MED) Menen he gon his mone, Hou feble weren his bone.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 4277 Oft sco meind til him hir mane.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. 2434 Þan began Leyr to sorowe & ment his mone [against Fortune] euen & morowe.
a1500 (?a1400) Morte Arthur (1903) 3932 (MED) So wofully hys mone he mente, hys sorow myngyd All hys mode.
1543 ( Chron. J. Hardyng (1812) Pref. p. v To none other my complaynte can I mene.
2.
a. intransitive. To lament, mourn; to complain. Of an animal: to utter a mournful sound. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > lament or express grief [verb (intransitive)]
sorroweOE
meaneOE
careOE
mournOE
ofthink?c1225
to make sorrow?c1250
to make languorc1300
bemoanc1305
plainc1325
moanc1330
wailc1330
waymentc1350
complainc1374
to make syte?a1400
sweam14..
lamentc1515
bemournc1540
regratec1550
to sing sol-fa, sorrow, woe1573
condole1598
passion1598
deplore1632
ochone1829
rune1832
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xxviii. 201 Ða he gehierde ðæt ðæt folc mænde to him Arone ymb hiera earfeðo.
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke ii. 48 Ecce pater tuus et ego dolentes quaerebamus te : heono fæder ðin & ic mænende we sohton ðec.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 141 Swa þet heo mei wepen & menen, ase sari man, wið þe salmwruhte.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14779 Þa wolde he..wenden to Rome. and menen to Gregorie.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 3060 (MED) Quilys scho menyd in hir mode, Confort com hir sone ful gode.
c1475 (a1400) Awntyrs Arthure (Taylor) in J. Robson Three Early Eng. Metrical Romances (1842) 5 Hyt menet, hit musut, hyt marret.
c1480 (a1400) St. Thomas Apostle 513 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 143 Carisius..for his vif gretly can men.
a1500 (?c1400) Sir Triamour (Cambr.) (1937) 28 Ofte tyme togedur can they meene, For no chylde come them betwene.
1753 J. Mill Diary (1889) 13 She meaned as to the state of her soul.
1803 in W. Scott Minstrelsy Sc. Border (ed. 2) III. 276 If you should die for me, sir knight, There's few for you will meane.
†b. intransitive. To complain of a person or thing. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > accusation, charge > accuse [verb (intransitive)]
wrayc725
mean?c1225
accusec1384
surmise1528
incuse1570
object1611
appeacha1616
aggravate1672
finger-point1959
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 267 For þi þet iob wes pulich, he mende of him.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 1257 Hwi wulleþ men of me himene..Þah ich hi warni al þat ȝer.
1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) xx. 22 Off all thy wo..It mends thé nocht to mene.
†3.
a. transitive (reflexive). To lament, mourn; to complain. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > lament or express grief [verb (reflexive)]
meana1225
plainc1330
complainc1385
waymentc1450
condole1592
lament1749
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 17 (MED) Men þe to halie chirche, þet is to þan preoste and to þan folke.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 78 Meneð ow to his earen.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15715 And heo gunnen wenden to þan kinge Pendan. and menden heom to Pendan.
c1330 (?a1300) Sir Tristrem (1886) l. 1135 (MED) Til mark he gan him mene.
c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. iii. 157 (MED) Þanne mournide mede & menide hire to þe king.
c1440 Tomas of Ersseldoune (Thornton) (1875) 30 The Mawys menyde hir of hir songe.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) 4174 Gretely he him mened.
1509 in R. A. Hay Geneal. Sainteclaires (1835) xxi And quhen I come to mene me of the samyn, his servandis bostit me.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 7612 The grekes..Made myche murmur & menit hom sore.
1587 A. Young Let. 24 Sept. in R. V. Agnew Corr. P. Waus (1887) II. 408 My broder was menand him self not to be weill.
1790 A. Wheeler Westmorland Dial. ii. 66 Awr Lass hed been atth Shop, for a Quartern ea Hops, en hard him mean his sel.
1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale 54 A cow when very ill and moaning is said to be ‘meanin herself’.
b. transitive. impersonal. me meaneth: it grieves me. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) 433 (MED) Sore me meneþ for me smert.
4.
a. transitive (reflexive). To present a formal complaint (to a person, institution, etc.). Also intransitive.
ΚΠ
1425 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1814) II. 10/1 That hostelaris..menys thaim to the King that his lieges..herberys thaim nocht.
a1470 in C. Innes & P. Chalmers Liber S. Thome de Aberbrothoc (1856) II. 108 Than we menyt ws of that vrang to owr bailye for the tyme.
1551 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 114 Thai menit thame diverse tymes to the Lordis of Sessioun.
c1650 J. Spalding Memorialls Trubles Scotl. & Eng. (1851) II. 72 To stramp it out he meinis him self to the Parliament.
1697 Minute Bk. Royal Coll. Surgeons Edinb. III. 66 To close up his shop till he should mean himselfe to the calling for a new priviledge.
1721 R. Wodrow Hist. Sufferings Church of Scotl. (1828) II. 213 Having meaned herself to the Council, they did take off the contumacy for her noncompearance.
1876 W. Hector Judicial Rec. Renfrewshire 29 Unto your Lop [i.e. Lordship]: Humbly means and shews, I, Mr. John Davidson.
1883 J. Martine Reminisc. Royal Burgh Haddington 221 The Convention 5th Augst 1578 unlawed Haddington for pursuing the town of Dunbar before the Session without first meaning themselves to the royal burghs.
†b. transitive. To state as a grievance; to represent by way of formal complaint or petition. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1460 in A. C. Swinton Swintons (1883) App. xliii Mast humily and lamentabilly menis and complenȝeis ȝur simpil seruitour..that [etc.].
1475 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 33 Fersamekil as it is lammentabilly menit till ws be our louit Johne of Spens, litster,..that [etc.].
1525 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 110 Forsamekill as it is humelie meynit and schewin to ws be ane reverend fader in God [etc.].
1560 in J. Spottiswood Hist. Church Scotl. (1677) iii. 144 They were forced to mean our estate to the Queen of England.
1569 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1878) 1st Ser. II. 61 Ordaining baith the parties,..to meyne the mater to the said Generall Assembly.
1620 in J. Maidment Spottiswoode Misc. (1845) II. 296 Having meined..to the..Session how greatly they have been burdened.
1752 J. Louthian Form of Process (ed. 2) 25 It is humbly meaned and shown to Us, by Our Lovit, C.D. That [etc.].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† meanv.3

Forms: late Middle English meen, late Middle English–1500s mene, 1600s mean; Scottish pre-1700 meane, pre-1700 mene, pre-1700 meyne.
Origin: Of uncertain origin. Either perhaps (i) formed within English, by conversion. Or perhaps (ii) formed within English, by back-formation. Or perhaps (iii) a borrowing from French. Etymons: mean n.3; meaner n.1; French moyenner.
Etymology: Perhaps < mean n.3, or perhaps a back-formation < meaner n.1, or perhaps < an unattested Anglo-Norman variant of Middle French moyenner to bring about by one's intervention (1314 in Old French; late 12th cent. in Old French as moyeneir in sense ‘to be at the middle of’; compare the isolated Old French forms meenner (1265), meeisner (1291) both in sense ‘to settle by intercession’) < Old French moien , meien (see mean adj.2).
Obsolete.
1. transitive. To mediate. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > intercession or influence on someone's behalf > intercede or use influence for [verb (transitive)] > bring about by mediation
mean1440
mediatea1593
society > society and the community > dissent > absence of dissension or peace > bringing about concord or peace > bring to peace (strife or discord) [verb (transitive)] > mediate between
to go between ——lOE
mean1440
mediate1538
to build bridges1886
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > render instrumental [verb (transitive)] > be intermediate means in
mean1440
mediate1630
refract1700
middleman1976
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 332 Menyn, or goon be-twene ij partyes for a-corde, medio.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 263 (MED) If Iohun be a prouoking meene that the King ȝeue to me xxti pound..Iohun meeneth or helpith, and fortherith in meenyng that the ȝeuyng be doon.
c1522 G. Douglas in Wks. (1874) I. p. cx Causing thame mene and procure so that the remayning with hir husband was not payit of her dower.
1655 H. L'Estrange Reign King Charles 138 Nor was any assistance more like to mean and procure his Restauration then theirs.
2. transitive. To moderate or settle by intercession. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > make less violent or severe [verb (transitive)]
temperc1000
keelc1175
slakea1300
abate?c1335
settle1338
swagea1340
modifyc1385
rebatea1398
bate1398
moder1414
releasea1425
remiss?a1425
moderate1435
alethe?1440
delaya1450
appal1470
addulce1477
mollify1496
mean?a1513
relent1535
qualify1536
temperatea1540
aplake1578
slack1589
relaxate1598
milden1603
mitigate1611
relax1612
alleniate1615
allay1628
alloy1634
castigate1653
smoothen1655
tendera1656
mitify1656
meeken1662
remitigate1671
obviscate1684
slacken1685
chastise1704
dulcify1744
absorb1791
demulceate1817
chasten1856
modulate1974
mediate1987
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 84 Our teyne to meyne and ga betweyne, As hvmile oratrice.
1520 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1869) I. 200 Gif ony truble..happinis amangis ony of the saidis craftis, thai till meyne the samyn amangis tham self in cheritable maner.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online December 2020).

meanv.4

Brit. /miːn/, U.S. /min/
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymons: mean adj.2; mean n.3
Etymology: < either mean adj.2 (compare sense 8a at that entry) or mean n.3 (compare sense 10 at that entry).
transitive. To calculate the arithmetical mean of (a set of values). Also with up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > perform arithmetic or algebraic operations [verb (transitive)] > calculate mean
mean1882
1882 W. J. L. Wharton Hydrogr. Surveying 210 We need not mean up each column of times.
1882 W. J. L. Wharton Hydrogr. Surveying 213 When working several sets, calculate them simultaneously as far as this, and mean the results.
a1888 P. F. Shortland Naut. Surveying (1890) 64 The permanent errors will destroy each other in the results of all..observations so meaned.
1959 Jrnl. Ecol. 47 642 These quadrats have been..meaned in groups and the appropriate percentage cover of the exclusive pioneers given beneath.
1990 Naturalist 115 43 Autumnal pre-hibernation weights are meaned at 6.8 g for females and 6.3 g for males.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† meanadv.1

Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: mean adj.2
Etymology: < mean adj.2
Obsolete.
1. Moderately; comparatively less.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb] > to a lesser extent > comparatively less
meana1398
comparatively1794
the world > relative properties > quantity > moderateness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb]
meetlyOE
better?c1225
measurelyc1350
renablyc1350
measurablya1382
skilfullya1387
meanlya1398
moderatelya1398
temperately1398
reasonablyc1400
faira1413
mean1535
competently1541
meanably1577
tarblish1842
mediumly1852
quite1854
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 209v Pome garnade is y-made mene sour.
1535 G. Joye Apol. Tindale sig. C.iiij Printed the new testament in a mean great volume.
1565 J. Jewel Def. Apol. Churche Eng. (1611) 101 A mean learned man may vnderstand it wel enough.
1576 G. Baker tr. C. Gesner Newe Jewell of Health iv. f. 231v When out of this..you shall haue drawne a cuppe meane full,..distyll it againe in Balneo Mariæ.
1612 W. Sclater Ministers Portion 42 The meane wealthy amongst their people.
2. Intermediately.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > [adverb] > in the midst or middle of a period of time
midOE
midwayc1230
mean1439
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > [adverb] > in a middle way
mean1561
1439 Rolls of Parl. V. 15/2 To do proclayme atte ii severall Countees..to be holden mene betwene ye date of ye seide Writ and ye day of ye returne yerof.
a1558 W. Stanford Expos. Kinges Prerog. (1567) f. 47 For that that hee that is outlawed was emprisoned meane betweene the awardynge of the exigent and the outlawrie pronounced.
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. i. f. 54 They in going meane betwene the Philosophers opinions and the heauenly doctrine are plainly deceiued.
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. 1243/1 Which office it seemeth that he had, meane betweene the twelfe and the foureteenth yeare of the said king.
a1625 H. Finch Law (1636) 46 Any such thing done meane betwixt the verdict and the iudgement.
1642 tr. J. Perkins Profitable Bk. xi. §837. 381 If meane, after the first demand, and before the latter end of the moneth the lessor doe happen to come.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2021).

meanadv.2

Brit. /miːn/, U.S. /min/
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: mean adj.1
Etymology: < mean adj.1
Now colloquial.
= meanly adv.2 In modern use usually in to play (also act) mean (in which mean could be interpreted as the adjective). Now chiefly U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > ignobleness or baseness > [adverb]
undignelyc1315
poorlyc1390
vilea1400
ignobly1594
unnobly1595
meanly1602
meana1626
unhandsomely1650
projectedly1660
unheroically1783
undignifiedly1856
raffishly1897
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > [adverb]
uncharitablyc1386
meanly1602
scurvily1616
meana1626
ungenerously1722
unsportinglya1974
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adverb] > in a paltry, mean, or contemptible manner
lowly1440
peltingly1555
meanlyc1561
miserablya1586
scurvily1616
mean1719
pettily1791
peddlingly1892
a1626 F. Bacon Christian Paradoxes in Wks. (1879) I. 341 When he is ablest, he thinks meanest of himself.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 304 If he fed them meaner than he was fed himself..they must fare very coursly indeed.
1861 O. W. Norton Army Lett. (1903) 26 Virginia has acted meaner than South Carolina.
1865 A. Trollope Can you forgive Her? II. i. 6 You see, Travers played mean at the last election, and that will be against him.
1918 M. E. Freeman Edgewater People 314 What in Sam Hill made you treat him so durned mean fur?
1983 J. Autry Nights under Tin Roof i. 10 There were spreading adders that puffed and hissed and acted mean.
1992 Lakota Times 3 June a4/5 When they had her in Hot Springs, she was the only Lakota there. They denied her cigarettes and treated her mean she told me.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1c1175n.2?c1250n.3a1325n.41938adj.1OEadj.21340v.1eOEv.2eOEv.31440v.41882adv.1a1398adv.2a1626
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