main

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See also Main, mäin, and -main

Contents

English [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

From Middle English main, mayn, meyn, partly from Old English mægen- ("strong, principal, main"; used in combination), from Old English mæġen (“strength”), and partly from Old Norse megn, megenn (“strong, main”); both from Proto-Germanic *maginan (“strength, power, might”), *maginaz (“strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *mogh-, *megh- (“power”). Cognate with Old High German megīn (“strong, mighty”), German Möge, Vermögen (“power, wealth”). Akin also to Old English magan (“to be able to”). More at may.

Adjective [edit]

main (not comparable)

  1. (obsolete) Great in size or degree; vast; strong; powerful; important.
  2. Principal; prime; chief; leading; of chief or pricipal importance. [from 15th c.]
  3. Principal or chief in size or extent; largest; consisting of the largest part; most important by reason or size or strength.
    main timbers; main branch of a river; main body of an army
  4. Full; undivided; sheer (of strength, force etc.). [from 16th c.]
    • 1817, Walter Scott, Rob Roy, XII:
      I was forced from the apartment by the main strength of two of these youthful Titans.
  5. (nautical) Belonging to or connected with the principal mast in a vessel.
  6. (dialectal) Big; angry.
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
principal

Adverb [edit]

main (comparative more main, superlative most main)

  1. (UK, dialectal) Very; very much; greatly; mightily; extremely; exceedingly.
    • 1799, Samuel Foote, The works of Samuel Foote:
      A draught of ale, friend, for I'm main dry.
    • 1840, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Leigh Hunt, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The dramatic works of Richard Brinsley Sheridan:
      Why, it's main jolly to be sure, and all that so fair.

Etymology 2 [edit]

From Old English mægen (“strength”), later also taking senses from the adjective.

Noun [edit]

main (plural mains)

  1. (obsolete, except in might and main) Strength; power; force; violent effort. [from 9th c.]
  2. That which is chief or principal; the chief or main portion; the gross; the bulk; the greater part.
    • 1858, Humphrey Prideaux, James Talboys Wheeler, An historical connection of the Old and New Testaments:
      [...] Alexander and Molon in the East; and therefore advised him to march immediately in person with the main of his army for the subduing of those rebels, before they should gather greater strength in the revolted provinces against him.
  3. (now archaic, US dialectal) The mainland. [from 16th c.]
    • 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, p. 90:
      The highest land on the mayne, yet it was but low, we called Keales hill, and these uninhabited Isles, Russels Isles.
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick:
      Tashtego's long, lean, sable hair, his high cheek bones, and black rounding eyes [...]--all this sufficiently proclaimed him an inheritor of the unvitiated blood of those proud warrior hunters, who, in quest of the great New England moose, had scoured, bow in hand, the aboriginal forests of the main.
  4. (now poetic) The high seas. [from 16th c.]
  5. A large pipe or cable providing utility service to a building or area, such as water main or electric main. [from 17th c.]
  6. (nautical) The mainsail. [from 17th c.]
Quotations [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
mainland — see mainland
high seas — see high seas
large pipe or cable
short for mainsail
strength — see strength
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Statistics [edit]

Anagrams [edit]

External links [edit]

Dalmatian [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From a Latin mēne < mē. Compare Romanian mine.

Pronoun [edit]

main

  1. (first-person singular pronoun, oblique case) me

Related terms [edit]

Finnish [edit]

Noun [edit]

main

  1. Instructive plural form of maa.

Anagrams [edit]

French [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Middle French, Old French main, mein, man, from Latin manus (“hand”), from Proto-Indo-European *man- (“hand”).

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

main f (plural mains)

  1. hand
  2. (soccer) handball
  3. (poker) hand

Synonyms [edit]

Holonyms [edit]

Meronyms [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

Anagrams [edit]

Indonesian [edit]

Verb [edit]

main (bermain)

  1. to play

Jèrriais [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Old French main, mein, man, from Latin manus (“hand”), from Proto-Indo-European *man-.

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

main f (plural mains)

  1. (anatomy) hand

Middle French [edit]

Etymology [edit]

Latin manus.

Noun [edit]

main f (plural mains)

  1. hand (anatomy)

Descendants [edit]

Old French [edit]

Etymology [edit]

Latin manus.

Noun [edit]

main f (oblique plural mains, nominative singular main, nominative plural mains)

  1. hand (anatomy)

Descendants [edit]

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