main

main

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of main in English

English Online Dictionary. What means main‎? What does main mean?

English

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: mān, IPA(key): /meɪn/
  • Rhymes: -eɪn
  • Homophones: mane, Maine

Etymology 1

From Middle English mayn, main, maine, mæin, meyn, from main (noun) (see further at etymology 2); compare Old English mæġen (“strong, main, principal”) (used in combination) and Old Norse megn, megenn (“strong, main”).

The word is cognate with Old High German megīn (“strong, mighty”) (modern German Möge, Vermögen (“power, wealth”)), and also akin to Old English magan (“to be able to”). See also may.

Adjective

main (not comparable)

  1. Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal. [from 15th c.]
  2. Chief, most important, or principal in extent, size, or strength; consisting of the largest part.
    Synonym: largest
  3. (archaic, of force, strength, etc.) Full, sheer, undivided. [from 16th c.]
  4. (dialectal) Big; angry.
  5. (nautical) Belonging to or connected with the principal mast in a vessel.
  6. (obsolete) Great in size or degree; important, powerful, strong, vast.
Derived terms
Translations

Adverb

main (comparative more main, superlative most main)

  1. (British, dialectal) Exceedingly, extremely, greatly, mightily, very, very much.

Verb

main (third-person singular simple present mains, present participle maining, simple past and past participle mained)

  1. (transitive, slang) Short for mainline (“to inject (a drug) directly into a vein”).
  2. (transitive, gaming) To mainly play a specific character or side, or with specific equipment, during a game.
  3. (obsolete) To convert (a road) into a main or primary road.

Etymology 2

From Middle English mayn, main, maine, mæine, mæȝen, from Old English mæġen (“strength”), from Proto-Germanic *maginą (“strength, power, might”), *maginaz (“strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *megʰ- (“be able”).

The word is cognate with Old High German magen, megin, Old Norse magn, megn, megin, Old Saxon megin. More recent senses are derived from the adjective.

Noun

main (plural mains)

  1. (not in generic modern use) That which is chief or principal; the chief or main portion; the bulk, the greater part, gross.
    1. (video games) The primary character that one plays in a video game in which one can play more than one character.
      Antonym: alt
    2. (Internet slang) A main account.
      Antonym: alt
  2. A large cable or pipe providing utility service to an area or a building, such as a water main or electric main. [from 17th c.]
  3. (informal) Short for main course (“the principal dish of a meal”).
  4. (now poetic) The high seas. [from 16th c.]
  5. (now archaic, US dialectal) The mainland. [from 16th c.]
  6. (nautical) Short for mainsail. [from 17th c.]
  7. (obsolete, except in might and main) Force, power, strength, violent effort. [from 9th c.]
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

Uncertain; probably from the adjective main. Evidence is lacking for a derivation from French main (“hand”).

Noun

main (plural mains)

  1. (obsolete, gaming) A hand or match in a game of dice.
    • 1876, Charles Dickens, All the Year Round
      That no minute might be wasted, the gay gallants of the time generally had a dice-box and a cast of dice in their pockets. This was convenient in the extreme, as, in the intervals of racing, a main could be thrown […]
  2. (obsolete, gaming) The largest throw in a match at dice; in the game of hazard, a number from one to nine called out by a person before the dice are thrown.
  3. (obsolete, gaming) A stake played for at dice.
  4. (obsolete, gaming, sports) A sporting contest or match, especially a cockfighting match.
  5. A banker's shovel for coins.

Etymology 4

Uncertain, possibly from French main (“hand”).

Noun

main (plural mains)

  1. (obsolete, rare) A basket for gathering grapes.

References

Further reading

  • main (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
  • Main (power) in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

See also

Anagrams

  • Iman, amin, NIMA, NAMI, iman, mani, mnai, Mina, mina, Naim, Mani, Mian, Amin

Chinese

Etymology

Clipping of English maintain.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mei̯n⁵⁵/

Verb

main

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to maintain

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

  • moi (Luserna)

Etymology

From Middle High German mīn, from Old High German mīn, from Proto-West Germanic *mīn, from Proto-Germanic *mīnaz (“my, mine”). Cognate with German mein, English mine.

Determiner

main (plural main, bon/dar maindarn) (Sette Comuni)

  1. (attributive) my
    De main muutar ist noch jung. ― My mother is still young.
    An zun bon maindarn ghéet noch suul. ― My son still goes to school. (literally, “A son of mine still goes to school.”)
    Maina muutar! ― My mother!
  2. (predicative) mine
    De khua ist main. ― The cow is mine.

Usage notes

The following rules apply to all Sette Comuni Cimbrian possessive determiners:

  • They are inflected by number and gender in only exclamations (i.e. vocative case).
  • Before nouns, they are inflected for number only and follow the corresponding definite article (a form of dar).
    • The plural ending is -en, or -∅ when the pronoun itself ends in -n.
  • Predicatively, they are uninflected and the definite article is not used.
  • Following bon (“of”) or dar (the only surviving trace of a genitive definite article; used for all numbers and genders) they end in -darn.

Inflection

See also

References

  • “main” in Martalar, Umberto Martello, Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin mēne, from mē. Compare Romanian mine.

Pronoun

main

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

Related terms

  • me
  • ju

Finnish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmɑi̯n/, [ˈmɑ̝i̯n]
  • Rhymes: -ɑin
  • Hyphenation(key): main

Noun

main

  1. instructive plural of maa

Postposition

main [with adessive]

  1. in ... region, in the vicinity of, around ...
    näillä main ― in this region, around here
    noilla main (see usage notes of tuo) ― in that region, around there
    niillä main (see usage notes of tuo) ― in that region, around there

Usage notes

In modern Finnish, the postposition is always preceded by a demonstrative pronoun in the plural: either näillä main, noilla main or niillä main (as above).

Further reading

  • “main”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎[3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-12-01

Anagrams

  • mani, mina, nami

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French main, Old French main, mein, man, from Latin manus (“hand”), from Proto-Italic *manus, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂-r̥ ~ *mh₂-én-, derived from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon”), or perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European *mon-u- (see the Proto-Italic entry). Compare Spanish mano.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɛ̃/
  • Homophones: mains, maint, maints
  • Hyphenation: main

Noun

main f (plural mains)

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

Synonyms

  • louche
  • mimine
  • paluche
  • pince

Meronyms

  • doigt
  • dos
  • paume
  • poignet
  • pouce

Holonyms

  • bras

Derived terms

Related terms

  • manche
  • manicle
  • manier
  • manipuler
  • manivelle
  • manuel

Descendants

  • →? English: main
  • →⇒ German: Lamäng
  • Haitian Creole: men
  • Louisiana Creole: men
  • ⇒ Mauritian Creole: lame

Further reading

  • “main”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

  • mina

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay main, from Proto-Malayic *maim, a reduction from Pre-Proto-Malayic *q-um-ayam, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qayam (“domesticated animal, toy”). In the sense of dummy word, influenced by Kupang Malay maen. Doublet of ayam (“chicken”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /main/
  • Hyphenation: main

Verb

main (bermain)

  1. to play
  2. (colloquial) dummy word before verbs

Derived terms

References

Further reading

  • “main” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Javanese

Verb

main

  1. to gamble

Kaiep

Noun

main

  1. woman

Further reading

  • Malcolm Ross, Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia, Pacific Linguistics, series C-98 (1988)
  • Stephen Adolphe Wurm, New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study (1976)

Malay

Etymology

A phonemical reduction from Pre-Proto-Malayic *q-um-ayam, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qayam. The Buku Katan alternatively proposes it as a product of suffixing maya +‎ -an.

Pronunciation

  • (Johor-Selangor) IPA(key): /maen/
  • (Riau-Lingga) IPA(key): /maɪn/
  • Rhymes: -aen, -en
  • Rhymes: -in

Verb

main (Jawi spelling ماءين, used in the form bermain)

  1. to play

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Indonesian: main
  • → Tok Pisin: main

References

Further reading

  • “main” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Middle English

Noun

main

  1. Alternative form of mayn

Adjective

main

  1. Alternative form of mayn

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French main, mein, man, from Latin manus.

Noun

main f (plural mains)

  1. (anatomy) hand

Descendants

  • French: main
    • →? English: main
    • →⇒ German: Lamäng
    • Haitian Creole: men
    • Louisiana Creole: men
    • ⇒ Mauritian Creole: lame

Norman

Alternative forms

  • man (continental Normandy)
  • môin (Guernsey)

Etymology

From Old French main, mein, man, from Latin manus (“hand”).

Pronunciation

Noun

main f (plural mains)

  1. (Jersey, anatomy) hand

Derived terms

  • brînge à main f (“brush”)
  • marté à deux mains m (“sledgehammer”)

Related terms

  • dé (“finger”)

Northern Sami

Pronoun

main

  1. locative plural of mii

Old French

Alternative forms

  • mein, man

Etymology

From Latin manus.

Noun

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

  1. (anatomy) hand

Descendants

  • Bourguignon: moin
  • Middle French: main
    • French: main
      • →? English: main
      • →⇒ German: Lamäng
      • Haitian Creole: men
      • Louisiana Creole: men
      • ⇒ Mauritian Creole: lame
  • Gallo: maen
  • Norman: main
  • Walloon: mwin

Old Irish

Noun

main

  1. Alternative spelling of mainn

Mutation

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From Malay main.

Verb

main

  1. to play
    Synonym: pilai

Welsh

Etymology

Perhaps ultimately from the root of mwyn (“mild, tender”). Cognate with Breton moan, Cornish moon.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mai̯n/
  • Rhymes: -ai̯n
  • Homophone: maen (South Wales)

Adjective

main (feminine singular main, plural meinion, equative meined, comparative meinach, superlative meinaf)

  1. slender, thin
    Synonym: tenau
  2. fine
    Synonym: mân

Derived terms

  • addfain (“slender”)
  • blaenfain, penfain, pigfain (“tapered, pointed”)
  • clustlys main (“western earwort”)
  • meinddail (“narrow-leaved”)
  • meinhau, meinio (“to make thin”)
  • rhwyddlwyn main (“slender speedwell”)

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.