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(mn), v. t.[imp. & p. p.Meant (mnt); p. pr. & vb. n.Meaning.] [OE. menen, AS. mnan to recite, tell, intend, wish; akin to OS. mnian to have in mind, mean, D. meenen, G. meinen, OHG. meinan, Icel. meina, Sw. mena, Dan. mene, and to E. mind. 104. See Mind, and cf. Moan.] 1. To have in the mind, as a purpose, intention, etc.; to intend; to purpose; to design; as, what do you mean to do ? What mean ye by this service ? Ex. xii. 26. Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good. Gen. 1. 20. I am not a Spaniard To say that it is yours and not to mean it. Longfellow. 2. To signify; to indicate; to import; to denote. What mean these seven ewe lambs ? Gen. xxi. 29. Go ye, and learn what that meaneth. Matt. ix. 13. Mean v. i.To have a purpose or intention. [Rare, except in the phrase to mean well, or ill.] Shak. Mean (mn), a.[Compar.Meaner (mn"r); superl.Meanest.] [OE. mene, AS. mne wicked; akin to mn, a., wicked, n., wickedness, OS. mn wickedness, OHG. mein, G. meineid perjury, Icel. mein harm, hurt, and perh. to AS. gemne common, general, D. gemeen, G. gemein, Goth. gamins, and L. communis. The AS. gemne prob. influenced the meaning.] 1. Destitute of distinction or eminence; common; low; vulgar; humble. "Of mean parentage." Sir P. Sidney. The mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself. Is. ii. 9. 2. Wanting dignity of mind; low-minded; base; destitute of honor; spiritless; as, a mean motive. Can you imagine I so mean could prove, To save my life by changing of my love ? Dryden. 3. Of little value or account; worthy of little or no regard; contemptible; despicable. The Roman legions and great Csar found Our fathers no mean foes. J. Philips. 4. Of poor quality; as, mean fare. 5. Penurious; stingy; close-fisted; illiberal; as, mean hospitality. Mean is Mean a.[OE. mene, OF. meiien, F. moyen, fr. L. medianus that is in the middle, fr. medius; akin to E. mid. See Mid.] 1. Occupying a middle position; middle; being about midway between extremes. Being of middle age and a mean stature. Sir P. Sidney. 2. Intermediate in excellence of any kind. According to the fittest style of lofty, mean, or lowly. Milton. 3. (Math.) Average; having an intermediate value between two extremes, or between the several successive values of a variable quantity during one cycle of variation; as, mean distance; mean motion; mean solar day. Mean distance (of a planet from the sun) (Astron.), the average of the distances throughout one revolution of the planet, equivalent to the semi-major axis of the orbit. Mean error (Math. Phys.), the average error of a number of observations found by taking the mean value of the positive and negative errors without regard to sign. Mean-square error, or Error of the mean square (Math. Phys.), the error the square of which is the mean of t Mean n. 1. That which is mean, or intermediate, between two extremes of place, time, or number; the middle point or place; middle rate or degree; mediocrity; medium; absence of extremes or excess; moderation; measure. But to speak in a mean, the virtue of prosperity is temperance; the virtue of adversity is fortitude. Bacon. There is a mean in all things. Dryden. The extremes we have mentioned, between which the wellinstracted Christian holds the mean, are correlatives. I. Taylor. 2. (Math.) A quantity having an intermediate value between several others, from which it is derived, and of which it expresses the resultant value; usually, unless otherwise specified, it is the simple average, formed by adding the quantities together and dividing by their number, which is called an arithmetical mean. A geometrical mean is the square root of the product of the quantities. 3. That through which, or by the help of which, an end is attained; something tending to an object desired; intermediate agency or measure; スポンサード リンク
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