meaning

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmiːnɪŋ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈminɪŋ/

• 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:

        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.): acceptation, definition, parsing, sense
• (connotation of words etc.): flavor, implication, import, insinuation, tone
• (something beyond a thing's existence): 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
• double meaning
• get the meaning
• loan meaning
• meaningful
• meaningless
• meaninglessly
• meaninglessness
• meaning of life
• self-referential meaning
• take the meaning

Translations

symbolic value of something

• Albanian: kuptim (sq) m, domethënie (sq) f
• Arabic: مَعْنًى (ar) m (maʕnan), الْمَعْنَى (ar) m (al-maʕnā) (definite)

  Gulf Arabic: معنى m (maʕna)

  Moroccan Arabic: معنى m (maʕna)

  North Levantine Arabic: معنى m (maʕna)

  South Levantine Arabic: معنى m (maʕna)

• Armenian: իմաստ (hy) (imast)
• Azerbaijani: məna (az)
• Bashkir: мәғәнә (məğənə)
• Belarusian: значэ́нне n (značénnje), значэ́ньне n (značénʹnje)
• Bengali: অর্থ (bn) (ortho), মানে (bn) (mane)
• Bulgarian: значе́ние (bg) n (značénie)
• Burmese: အဓိပ္ပါယ် (a.dhippay)
• Catalan: significat (ca) m, significació f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 意義 / 意义 (ji³ ji⁶)

  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)
• Greenlandic: isuma
• Gujarati: અર્થ (arth)
• Hausa: ma'ana
• 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
• Indonesian: arti (id),​ makna (id),​ maksud (id)
• 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), erti, maksud (ms)
• Malayalam: അർത്ഥം (ml) (aṟtthaṁ), സാരം (ml) (sāraṁ)
• 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
• Ottoman Turkish: معنا (mana)
• Pashto: معنى f (ma'nã), معنا f (ma'nã)
• Persian:

  Dari: مَطْلَب (fa) (matlab)

  Iranian Persian: مَعْنی (fa) (ma'ni), مَعْنَیٰ (fa) (ma'nâ), مَعْنا (fa) (ma'nâ)

• 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, significación (es) f
• Swahili: maana (sw)
• Swedish: mening (sv) c, betydelse (sv) c
• Tajik: маънӣ (tg) (ma'ni), маъно (tg) (ma'no)
• 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: مَعْنی (ur) f (ma'nī), مَعْنَیٰ (ur) f (ma'nā), مَطْلَب m (matlab), اَرْتھ m (arth)
• Uyghur: مەنە (ug) (mene)
• Uzbek: maʼno (uz), maʼni (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 (ar) m (maʕnan)

  Gulf Arabic: معنى m (maʕna)

• Armenian: իմաստ (hy) (imast)
• Bashkir: мәғәнә (məğənə)
• 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: signifo
• Finnish: tarkoitus (fi)
• French: signification (fr) f
• German: Sinn (de) m
• Greek: νόημα (el) n (nóima)
• Hindi: अर्थ (hi) (arth), मूल्य (hi) (mūlya)
• 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) (aṟtthaṁ), സാരം (ml) (sāraṁ)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: утга (mn) (utga)

  Mongolian: ᠤᠳᠬ
  ᠠ (udk a)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: mening (no) m or f

• Persian:

  Dari: مَطْلَب (fa) (matlab)

  Iranian Persian: مَعْنی (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)
• Vietnamese: nghĩa (vi) (義), ý nghĩa (vi) (意義 (vi)), ý vị (vi) (意味 (vi))
• Welsh: ystyr (cy) m or f

definition or connotation of a word

• Arabic: مَعْنًى (ar) m (maʕnan)

  Gulf Arabic: معنى m (maʕna)

• Armenian: իմաստ (hy) (imast)
• Bashkir: мәғәнә (məğənə)
• Belarusian: значэ́нне n (značénnje), значэ́ньне n (značénʹnje), сэнс (be) m (sens), змысл m (zmysl)
• Bole: mana
• Breton: ster (br) m
• Bulgarian: значе́ние (bg) n (značénie)
• 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
• Esperanto: senco (eo)
• 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
• Hindi: मतलब (hi) m (matlab), अर्थ (hi) (arth)
• 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)
• Malay: maksud (ms)
• Malayalam: അർത്ഥം (ml) (aṟtthaṁ)
• 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:

  Dari: مَطْلَب (fa) (matlab)

  Iranian Persian: مَعْنی (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, acepción (es) f, sentido de la palabra m, significación (es) f
• 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: مَطْلَب m (matlab)
• Vietnamese: nghĩa (vi) (義), ý nghĩa (vi) (意義 (vi))
• Welsh: ystyr (cy) m or f
• Yiddish: טײַטש m or f (taytsh)

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 (me'na), ^{(please verify)} مەبەس (mebes)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} înțeles (ro) n, ^{(please verify)} sens (ro) n, ^{(please verify)} semnificație (ro) f
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} అర్థం (te) (arthaṁ)

Etymology 2

From mean +‎ -ing.

Verb

meaning

1. present participle and gerund 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.

   Well/ill meaning.

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, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, 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, published 2014, page 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”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• amening