meaning

meaning

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmiːnɪŋ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːnɪŋ

Etymology 1

From Middle English mening, menyng, equivalent to mean +‎ -ing. Cognate with Scots mening (“intent, purpose, sense, meaning”), West Frisian miening (“opinion, mind”), Dutch mening (“view, opinion, judgement”), German Meinung (“opinion, view, mind, idea”), Danish and Swedish mening (“meaning, sense, sentence, opinion”), Icelandic meining (“meaning”).

Noun

meaning (countable and uncountable, plural meanings)

1. (of words, expressions or symbols)
   1. The denotation, referent, or idea connected with a word, expression, or symbol.
      • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:

        Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."

   2. The connotation associated with a word, expression, or symbol.
2. The purpose, value, or significance (of something) beyond the fact of that thing's existence.

   the meaning of life

   The number of persons attending the vigil had a lot of meaning to the families.

3. (of a person's actions) Intention.
   • c. 1610?, Walter Raleigh, A Discourse of War:

     It was their meaning to take what they needed by strong hand.

   • 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House:

     […] there was nothing in the house, what there was, was broken, the last people must have lived like pigs, what could the meaning of the landlord be?

Synonyms

• (denotation of words etc.): definition
• (connotation of words etc.):
• (purpose, significance):
• (of a person's actions): goal, aim, plan, intent

Hyponyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

• proposition

Derived terms

Terms derived from meaning (noun)

• antimeaning
• meaning of life
• meaningful
• meaningless
• meaninglessly
• meaninglessness

Translations

symbolic value of something

Albanian: kuptim (sq) m, domethënie (sq) f Arabic: مَعْنًى‎ (ar) m (maʿnan), الْمَعْنَى‎ (ar) m (al-maʿnā) (definite) Gulf Arabic: معنى‎ m (maʿna) Armenian: իմաստ (hy) (imast) Azerbaijani: məna (az) Bashkir: мәғәнә (mäğänä) Belarusian: значэ́нне n (značénnje) Bengali: অর্থ (bn) (ôrthô) Bulgarian: значе́ние (bg) n (značénie) Burmese: အဓိပ္ပါယ် (a.dhippay) Catalan: significat (ca) m, significació f Chinese: Mandarin: 意義／意义 (zh) (yìyì), 含義／含义 (zh) (hányì), 意思 (zh) (yìsi), 意味 (zh) (yìwèi) Crimean Tatar: mana Czech: význam (cs) m Danish: betydning (da) c, mening c Dutch: waarde (nl) f, betekenis (nl) m Esperanto: signifo Estonian: tähendus (et) Finnish: merkitys (fi) French: signification (fr) f, sens (fr) m Galician: significado (gl) m Georgian: მნიშვნელობა (mnišvneloba) German: Bedeutung (de) f Greek: σημασία (el) f (simasía) Gujarati: અર્થ (arth) Hausa: ma'ana (ha) Hawaiian: manaʻo Hebrew: מַשְׁמָעוּת‎ (he) f (mashma'út) Hindi: मतलब (hi) m (matlab), अर्थ (hi) m (arth), मअनी f (maanī) Hungarian: jelentés (hu) Icelandic: merking f Italian: significato (it) m Japanese: 意義 (ja) (いぎ, igi), 意味 (ja) (いみ, imi) Kazakh: мағына (kk) (mağyna) Khmer: សំនួន (km) (sɑmnuən) Korean: 뜻 (ko) (tteut), 의미(意味) (ko) (uimi), 의의(意義) (ko) (uiui) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: wate (ku), mane (ku) Kyrgyz: маани (ky) (maani) Lao: ຄວາມຫມາຽ (khuām māi) Latvian: jēga f, nozīme f Limburgish: beteikenis (li) f Lithuanian: prasmė (lt) f Macedonian: значење n (značenje) Malay: makna (ms), arti (ms), maksud (ms) Malayalam: അർത്ഥം (ml) (aṟtthaṃ), സാരം (ml) (sāraṃ) Mongolian: Cyrillic: утга (mn) (utga) Mongolian: ᠤᠳᠬ ᠠ (udk a) Norwegian: Bokmål: mening (no) m or f, betydning (no) m or f Old English: andgiet n Pashto: معنى‎ f (ma'nã), معنا‎ f (ma'nã) Persian: معنی‎ (fa) (ma'ni) Polish: znaczenie (pl) n Portuguese: significado (pt) m Romanian: semnificație (ro) f, sens (ro) n Russian: значе́ние (ru) n (značénije) Sanskrit: अर्थ (sa) (artha) Scots: meanin Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: зна́че̄ње n Roman: znáčēnje (sh) n Slovak: význam m Slovene: pomen (sl) m Spanish: sentido (es) m, significado (es) m Swahili: maana (sw) Swedish: mening (sv) c, betydelse (sv) c Tajik: маънӣ (tg) (maʾnī), маъно (tg) (maʾno) Tatar: мәгънә (tt) (mäğnä) Thai: ความหมาย (th) (kwaam-mǎai) Tocharian B: ārth Turkish: anlam (tr), mana (tr), kasıt (tr) Turkmen: many Ukrainian: зна́чення (uk) n (znáčennja) Urdu: معنی‎ (ur) f (ma'nī), ارتھ‎ m (arth), مطلب‎ m (matlab) Uyghur: مەنە‎ (ug) (mene) Uzbek: maʼno (uz) Vietnamese: nghĩa (vi) (義), ý nghĩa (vi) (意義 (vi)), ý vị (vi) (意味 (vi)) Welsh: ystyr (cy) m or f West Frisian: betsjutting (fy) c Yiddish: טײַטש‎ m or f (taytsh)

significance of a thing, as "the meaning of life"

Arabic: مَعْنًى‎‎ m (maʿnan) Gulf Arabic: معنى‎ m (maʿna) Armenian: իմաստ (hy) (imast) Bashkir: мәғәнә (mäğänä) Belarusian: змысл m (zmysl), сэнс (be) m (sens), толк m (tolk) Bulgarian: сми́съл (bg) m (smísǎl) Catalan: sentit (ca) m, significat (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 意義／意义 (zh) (yìyì), 含義／含义 (zh) (hányì), 意思 (zh) (yìsi), 意味 (zh) (yìwèi), 目的 (zh) (mùdì) Czech: smysl (cs) m Danish: mening c Dutch: zin (nl) m Esperanto: senco (eo) Finnish: tarkoitus (fi) French: signification (fr) f German: Sinn (de) m Greek: νόημα (el) n (nóima) Hungarian: értelem (hu) Italian: significato (it) m Japanese: 意義 (ja) (いぎ, igi), 意味 (ja) (いみ, imi), 目的 (ja) (もくてき, mokuteki) Korean: 의미(意味) (ko) (uimi), 의의(意義) (ko) (uiui), 목적(目的) (ko) (mokjeok) Latvian: jēga f Macedonian: смисла f (smisla), смисол m (smisol) Malayalam: അർത്ഥം (ml) (aṟtthaṃ), സാരം (ml) (sāraṃ) Mongolian: Cyrillic: утга (mn) (utga) Mongolian: ᠤᠳᠬ ᠠ (udk a) Norwegian: Bokmål: mening (no) m or f Persian: معنی‎ (fa) (ma'ni) Polish: sens (pl) m Portuguese: significado (pt) m, sentido (pt) m Russian: смысл (ru) m (smysl), значе́ние (ru) n (značénije), толк (ru) m (tolk) Scots: meanin Scottish Gaelic: seagh m, brìgh f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: сми̑сао m Roman: smȋsao (sh) m Slovak: zmysel m Slovene: smisel (sl) m Spanish: sentido (es) m Swahili: maana (sw) Swedish: mening (sv) c Thai: ความหมาย (th) (kwaam-mǎai) Turkish: anlam (tr) Ukrainian: сенс (uk) m (sens), зна́чення (uk) n (znáčennja), смисл m (smysl) Welsh: ystyr (cy) m or f Vietnamese: nghĩa (vi) (義), ý nghĩa (vi) (意義 (vi)), ý vị (vi) (意味 (vi))

definition or connotation of a word

Arabic: مَعْنًى‎ (ar) m (maʿnan) Gulf Arabic: معنى‎ m (maʿna) Armenian: իմաստ (hy) (imast) Bashkir: мәғәнә (mäğänä) Belarusian: значэ́нне n (značénnje), сэнс (be) m (sens), змысл m (zmysl) Bulgarian: значе́ние (bg) n (značénie) Bole: mana Breton: ster (br) m Catalan: significat (ca) m Chinese: Cantonese: 意思 (ji3 si1) Mandarin: 意思 (zh) (yìsi), 意味 (zh) (yìwèi) Czech: význam (cs) m, smysl (cs) m Danish: betydning (da) c Dutch: betekenis (nl) m Finnish: merkitys (fi) French: sens (fr) m German: Bedeutung (de) f Greek: σημασία (el) f (simasía), έννοια (el) f (énnoia) Gujarati: અર્થ (arth) Hausa: ma'ana (ha) Hindi: मतलब (hi) m (matlab) Hungarian: jelentés (hu) Icelandic: meining f, merking Italian: significato (it) m Japanese: 意味 (ja) (いみ, imi) Kapampangan: kabaldugan Korean: 뜻 (ko) (tteut), 의미(意味) (ko) (uimi) Latvian: nozīme f Lithuanian: reikšmė (lt) f Macedonian: значење n (značenje), смисла f (smisla), смисол m (smisol) Malayalam: അർത്ഥം (ml) (aṟtthaṃ) Mongolian: Cyrillic: утга (mn) (utga) Mongolian: ᠤᠳᠬ ᠠ (udk a) Norwegian: Bokmål: betydning (no) m or f, tyding m or f Old English: ġetācnung f, andġiet n Persian: معنی‎ (fa) (ma'ni) Polish: znaczenie (pl) n, sens (pl) m Portuguese: significado (pt) m Russian: значе́ние (ru) n (značénije), толкова́ние (ru) n (tolkovánije), смысл (ru) m (smysl) Scots: meanin Scottish Gaelic: ciallachadh m, seagh m, brìgh f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: зна́че̄ње n Roman: znáčēnje (sh) n Slovak: význam m, zmysel m Slovene: pomen (sl) m, smisel (sl) m Spanish: significado (es) m, sentido de la palabra m Swahili: maana (sw) Swedish: betydelse (sv) c Thai: ความหมาย (th) (kwaam-mǎai), คำแปล (th) (kam-bplɛɛ) Ukrainian: зна́чення (uk) n (znáčennja), сенс (uk) m (sens), смисл m (smysl) Urdu: مطلب‎ m (matlab) Welsh: ystyr (cy) m or f Yiddish: טײַטש‎ m or f (taytsh) Vietnamese: nghĩa (vi) (義), ý nghĩa (vi) (意義 (vi))

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Friulian: (please verify) significât m Icelandic: (please verify) meining f Indonesian: (please verify) arti (id) Italian: (please verify) significato (it) m Kurdish: Central Kurdish: (please verify) مەعنا‎ (ku) (me'na), (please verify) مەبەس‎ (mebes) Romanian: (please verify) înțeles (ro) n, (please verify) sens (ro) n, (please verify) semnificație (ro) f Spanish: (please verify) significado (es) m Telugu: (please verify) అర్థం (te) (arthaṁ)

Etymology 2

From mean +‎ -ing.

Verb

meaning

1. present participle of mean
   • 2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist:

     Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.

Adjective

meaning (comparative more meaning, superlative most meaning)

1. Having a (specified) intention.
2. Expressing some intention or significance; meaningful.
   • 1839, Edgar Allan Poe, "William Wilson"

     I might, to-day, have been a better, and thus a happier man, had I less frequently rejected the counsels embodied in those meaning whispers which I then but too cordially hated and too bitterly despised.

   • 1907, Barbara Baynton, Sally Krimmer; Alan Lawson, editors, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 243:

     There was a meaning pause, broken by old Stein again clapping his hands.

   • 1978, Jane Gardam, God on the Rocks, Abacus 2014, p. 160:

     [T]he new friends […] knew nothing and did not particularly care to hear about the beautiful mother with her long, meaning looks and liquid dresses and distant smile.

References

• meaning at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• amening