mean

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.

There is a mean in all things.

The extremes we have mentioned, between which the wellinstracted Christian holds the mean, are correlatives.

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; necessary condition or coagent; instrument.

Their virtuous conversation was a mean to work the conversion of the heathen to Christ.

You may be able, by this mean, to review your own scientific acquirements.

Philosophical doubt is not an end, but a mean.

&fist; In this sense the word is usually employed in the plural form means, and often with a singular attribute or predicate, as if a singular noun.

By this means he had them more at vantage.

What other means is left unto us.

4. pl. Hence: Resources; property, revenue, or the like, considered as the condition of easy livelihood, or an instrumentality at command for effecting any purpose; disposable force or substance.

Your means are very slender, and your waste is great.

5. (Mus.) A part, whether alto or tenor, intermediate between the soprano and base; a middle part. [Obs.]

The mean is drowned with your unruly base.

6. Meantime; meanwhile. [Obs.] Spenser.

7. A mediator; a go-between. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.

He wooeth her by means and by brokage.

By all means, certainly; without fail; as, go, by all means. -- By any means, in any way; possibly; at all.

If by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead.

-- By no means, or By no manner of means, not at all; certainly not; not in any degree.

The wine on this side of the lake is by no means so good as that on the other.

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.

2. Intermediate in excellence of any kind.

According to the fittest style of lofty, mean, or lowly.

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 the squares of all the errors; -- called also, especially by European writers, mean error. -- Mean line. (Crystallog.) Same as Bisectrix. -- Mean noon, noon as determined by mean time. -- Mean proportional (between two numbers) (Math.), the square root of their product. -- Mean sun, a fictitious sun supposed to move uniformly in the equator so as to be on the meridian each day at mean noon. -- Mean time, time as measured by an equable motion, as of a perfect clock, or as reckoned on the supposition that all the days of the year are of a mean or uniform length, in contradistinction from apparent time, or that actually indicated by the sun, and from sidereal time, or that measured by the stars.

Mean (mēn), a. [Compar. Meaner (mēn"&etilde;r); superl. Meanest.]

[OE. mene, AS. m&aemacr;ne wicked; akin to mān, a., wicked, n., wickedness, OS. mēn wickedness, OHG. mein, G. meineid perjury, Icel. mein harm, hurt, and perh. to AS. gem&aemacr;ne common, general, D. gemeen, G. gemein, Goth. gamáins, and L. communis. The AS. gem&aemacr;ne 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.

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 ?

3. Of little value or account; worthy of little or no regard; contemptible; despicable.

The Roman legions and great Cæsar found
Our fathers no mean foes.

4. Of poor quality; as, mean fare.

5. Penurious; stingy; close-fisted; illiberal; as, mean hospitality.

&fist; Mean is sometimes used in the formation of compounds, the sense of which is obvious without explanation; as, meanborn, mean-looking, etc.

Syn. -- Base; ignoble; abject; beggarly; wretched; degraded; degenerate; vulgar; vile; servile; menial; spiritless; groveling; slavish; dishonorable; disgraceful; shameful; despicable; contemptible; paltry; sordid. See Base.

Mean , v. i. To have a purpose or intention. [Rare, except in the phrase to mean well, or ill.]

Shak.

Mean (mēn), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Meant (m&ebreve;nt); p. pr. & vb. n. Meaning.]

[OE. menen, AS. m&aemacr;nan to recite, tell, intend, wish; akin to OS. mēnian 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 ?

Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good.

I am not a Spaniard
To say that it is yours and not to mean it.

2. To signify; to indicate; to import; to denote.

What mean these seven ewe lambs ?

Go ye, and learn what that meaneth.