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What (who) is mean - definition
GENERAL TERM FOR THE SEVERAL DEFINITIONS OF MEAN VALUE, THE SUM DIVIDED BY THE COUNT
MeaN; Mean value; Mean (mathematics); Mean vector; Mean (statistics); Mean number; Meanscore; Population average; Mean values; Mean score; Mean (Statistics); The Mean
![log-normal]]) distributions.](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Comparison mean median mode.svg?width=200 "log-normal]]) distributions.")
mean
mean1
¦ verb (past and past participle meant)
1. intend to convey or refer to.
(of a word) have as its signification in the same language or its equivalent in another language.
(mean something to) be of a specified degree of importance to.
2. intend to occur or be the case.
(be meant to do something) be supposed to do something.
(often be meant for) design or destine for a particular purpose.
(mean something by) have as a motive or excuse in explanation.
3. have as a consequence or result.
Phrases
mean business be in earnest.
mean well have good intentions, but not always carry them out.
Origin
OE m?nan, of W. Gmc origin.
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mean2
¦ adjective
1. chiefly Brit. unwilling to give or share things, especially money.
2. unkind or unfair.
N. Amer. vicious or aggressive.
3. poor in quality and appearance.
(of a person's mental ability) inferior.
4. dated of low birth or social class.
5. informal excellent.
Phrases
no mean -- very good of its kind: it was no mean feat.
Derivatives
meanly adverb
meanness noun
Origin
ME (orig. in the sense 'common to two or more persons'), shortening of OE gemne, of Gmc origin.
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mean3
¦ noun
1. (also arithmetic mean) the average of a set of quantities. See also geometric mean.
2. a condition, quality, or course of action equally removed from two opposite extremes.
¦ adjective
1. calculated as a mean.
2. equally far from two extremes.
Origin
ME: from OFr. meien, from L. medianus (see median).
mean
I. a.
1.
Middle, medium, average, moderate.
2.
Intermediate, intervening, coming between.
3.
Ignoble, plebeian, low, ordinary, common, vulgar, coarse, humble.
4.
Base, abject, grovelling, vile, contemptible, despicable, servile, beggarly, sneaking, dirty, scurvy, shabby, sorry, disingenuous, unfair, rascally, pitiful, base-minded, low-minded, dishonorable, spiritless.
5.
Sordid, penurious, miserly, stingy, niggardly, illiberal, ungenerous, selfish, narrow, mercenary, narrow-minded, parsimonious.
6.
Small, little, paltry, insignificant, diminutive, petty, poor, wretched, contemptible, despicable.
II. n.
1.
Medium, mediocrity, moderation, measure, middle state, middle course.
2.
Average.
3.
Instrument, method, mode, way, means, agency, instrumentality, measure.
III. v. a.
1.
Intend, signify, contemplate.
2.
Intend, purpose, design.
3.
Signify, indicate, imply, denote, purport, import, express.
IV. v. n.
Intend, purpose, design.
mean
I. VERB USES
(means, meaning, meant)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Please look at category 19 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
1.
If you want to know what a word, code, signal, or gesture means, you want to know what it refers to or what its message is.
In modern Welsh, 'glas' means 'blue'...
The red signal means you can shoot.
VERB: no cont, V n, V that
2.
If you ask someone what they mean, you are asking them to explain exactly what or who they are referring to or what they are intending to say.
Do you mean me?...
I think he means that he does not want this marriage to turn out like his friend's.
VERB: no cont, V n, V that
3.
If something means something to you, it is important to you in some way.
The idea that she witnessed this shameful incident meant nothing to him...
It would mean a lot to them to win.
VERB: no cont, V amount to n, it V amount to-inf, also V amount
4.
If one thing means another, it shows that the second thing exists or is true.
An enlarged prostate does not necessarily mean cancer...
Just because he has a beard doesn't necessarily mean he's a hippy.
VERB: no cont, V n, V that
5.
If one thing means another, the first thing leads to the second thing happening.
It would almost certainly mean the end of NATO...
The change will mean that the country no longer has full diplomatic relations with other states.
VERB: no cont, V n, V that
6.
If doing one thing means doing another, it involves doing the second thing.
Managing well means communicating well.
VERB: V -ing
7.
If you say that you mean what you are saying, you are telling someone that you are serious about it and are not joking, exaggerating, or just being polite.
He says you're fired if you're not back at work on Friday. And I think he meant it...
VERB: no cont, V n
8.
If you say that someone meant to do something, you are saying that they did it deliberately.
I didn't mean to hurt you...
I can see why you believed my letters were threatening but I never meant them to be.
= intend
VERB: no cont, V to-inf, V n to-inf
9.
If you say that someone did not mean any harm, offence, or disrespect, you are saying that they did not intend to upset or offend people or to cause problems, even though they may in fact have done so.
I'm sure he didn't mean any harm...
= intend
VERB: no cont, with brd-neg, V n
10.
If you mean to do something, you intend or plan to do it.
Summer is the perfect time to catch up on the new books you meant to read...
= intend
VERB: no cont, V to-inf
11.
If you say that something was meant to happen, you believe that it was made to happen by God or fate, and did not just happen by chance.
John was constantly reassuring me that we were meant to be together.
VERB: usu passive, no cont, be V-ed to-inf
12.
You say 'I mean' when making clearer something that you have just said. (SPOKEN)
It was his idea. Gordon's, I mean...
PHRASE: PHR with cl
13.
You can use 'I mean' to introduce a statement, especially one that justifies something that you have just said. (SPOKEN)
I'm sure he wouldn't mind. I mean, I was the one who asked him...
PHRASE: PHR with cl
14.
You say I mean when correcting something that you have just said. (SPOKEN)
It was law or classics-I mean English or classics.
PHRASE: PHR with cl
15.
If you know what it means to do something, you know everything that is involved in a particular activity or experience, especially the effect that it has on you.
I know what it means to lose a child under such tragic circumstances.
PHRASE: Vs inflect, oft PHR to-inf
16.
If a name, word, or phrase means something to you, you have heard it before and you know what it refers to.
'Oh, Gairdner,' he said, as if that meant something to him...
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n
17.
If you say that someone means well, you mean they are trying to be kind and helpful, even though they might be causing someone problems or upsetting them.
I know you mean well, but I can manage by myself.
PHRASE: V inflects
18.
You use 'you mean' in a question to check that you have understood what someone has said.
What accident. You mean Christina's?...
'What if I had said no?' 'About the apartment, you mean?'
PHRASE: PHR with cl
19.
II. ADJECTIVE USES
(meaner, meanest)
1.
If you describe someone as mean, you are being critical of them because they are unwilling to spend much money or to use very much of a particular thing. (mainly BRIT; in AM, use cheap
, stingy
)
, stingy
)
Don't be mean with fabric, otherwise curtains will end up looking skimpy.
= stingy
ADJ [disapproval]
• meanness
This very careful attitude to money can sometimes border on meanness.
N-UNCOUNT
2.
If you describe an amount as mean, you are saying that it is very small. (BRIT)
...the meanest grant possible from the local council.
ADJ [disapproval]
3.
If someone is being mean, they are being unkind to another person, for example by not allowing them to do something.
The little girls had locked themselves in upstairs because Mack had been mean to them...
I'd feel mean saying no.
ADJ: usu v-link ADJ, oft ADJ to n
• meanly
He had been behaving very meanly to his girlfriend.
ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj
4.
If you describe a person or animal as mean, you are saying that they are very bad-tempered and cruel. (mainly AM)
...the meanest fighter in the world.
ADJ
5.
If you describe a place as mean, you think that it looks poor and dirty.
He was raised on the mean streets of the central market district of Panama City.
ADJ: usu ADJ n
6.
You can use no mean in expressions such as 'no mean writer' and 'no mean golfer' to indicate that someone does something well. (INFORMAL)
She was no mean performer on a variety of other instruments...
PHRASE: PHR n [approval]
7.
You can use no mean in expressions such as 'no mean achievement' and 'no mean task' to indicate that someone has done something they deserve to be proud of.
To destroy 121 enemy aircraft is no mean record...
PHRASE: PHR n
III. NOUN USE
The mean is a number that is the average of a set of numbers.
Take a hundred and twenty values and calculate the mean.
...the mean score for 26-year-olds.
= average
N-SING: the N, oft N n
see also means
Wikipedia
Mean
There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set.
Pythagorean means consist of arithmetic mean (AM), geometric mean (GM), and harmonic mean (HM). The AM is the sum of numbers divided by the number of numbers, GM is an average for sets of positive numbers based on their product, and HM is an average for sets of numbers defined in relation to a unit of measurement. The relationship between AM, GM, and HM is represented by the inequality AM ≥ GM ≥ HM.
Statistical location covers mean, median, and mode, where mean may not always be the same as the median or mode for skewed distributions. The mean of a probability distribution is the long-run average value of a random variable with that distribution.
Generalized means include power mean and f-mean. The power mean is an abstraction of quadratic, arithmetic, geometric, and harmonic means, while the f-mean generalizes the concept further.
Other specialized means discussed are weighted arithmetic mean, truncated mean, interquartile mean, mean of a function, mean of angles and cyclical quantities, Fréchet mean, triangular sets, and Swanson's rule.
For a data set, the arithmetic mean, also known as "arithmetic average", is a measure of central tendency of a finite set of numbers: specifically, the sum of the values divided by the number of values. The arithmetic mean of a set of numbers x1, x2, ..., xn is typically denoted using an overhead bar, . If the data set were based on a series of observations obtained by sampling from a statistical population, the arithmetic mean is the sample mean () to distinguish it from the mean, or expected value, of the underlying distribution, the population mean (denoted or ).
Outside probability and statistics, a wide range of other notions of mean are often used in geometry and mathematical analysis; examples are given below.
Examples of use of mean
1. And they don‘t mean in a century, they mean soon.
2. QUESTION:'4; What does that mean?'4; I mean – MR.
3. The Independent asks what the Americans mean by a "new Middle East"? They mean what I mean, says Mr Blair.
4. Palestinian concessions mean an Israeli victory; Israeli concessions mean a Palestinian victory.
5. Your answer depends on what you mean by Europe – and what you mean by a country.