meaning

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

English

Pronunciation

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

3. (of a person's actions) Intention.

Synonyms

• (denotation of words etc.): acceptation, definition, parsing, sense
• (connotation of words etc.): flavor, implication, import, insinuation, tone
• (purpose, significance):
• (of a person's actions): goal, aim, plan, intent

Hyponyms

• proposition

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From mean +‎ -ing.

Verb

meaning

1. present participle and gerund of mean

Adjective

meaning (comparative more meaning, superlative most meaning)

1. Having a (specified) intention.
2. Expressing some intention or significance; meaningful.

References

• “meaning”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• amening