Adjacent Words

Meaning definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ME'ANING, ppr. Having in mind; intending; signifying.
ME'ANING, n. That which exists in the mind, view or contemplation as a settled aim or purpose, though not directly expressed. We say, this or that is not his meaning.
1. Intention; purpose; aim; with reference to a future act.
I am no honest man, if there by any good meaning towards you.
2. Signification. What is the meaning of all this parade? The meaning of a hieroglyphic is not always obvious.
3. The sense of words or expressions; that which is to be understood; signification; that which the writer or speaker intends to express or communicate. Words have a literal meaning, or a metaphorical meaning, and it is not always easy to ascertain the real meaning.
4. Sense; power of thinking. [Little used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: rich in significance or implication; "a meaning look" [syn: meaning, pregnant, significant] n
1: the message that is intended or expressed or signified; "what is the meaning of this sentence"; "the significance of a red traffic light"; "the signification of Chinese characters"; "the import of his announcement was ambiguous" [syn: meaning, significance, signification, import]
2: the idea that is intended; "What is the meaning of this proverb?" [syn: meaning, substance]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 14th century 1. a. the thing one intends to convey especially by language ; purport b. the thing that is conveyed especially by language ; import 2. something meant or intended ; aim <a mischievous meaning was apparent> 3. significant quality; especially implication of a hidden or special significance <a glance full of meaning> 4. a. the logical connotation of a word or phrase b. the logical denotation or extension of a word or phrase • meaning adjective • meaningly adverb

Britannica Concise

In philosophy, the sense of an expression (e.g., a word or sentence) by contrast with its reference (i.e., the relation between expressions and what they designate). For example, "the tallest person" means "the person whose height is greater than that of any other," but its reference may be John Doe--or no one, since two or more can be tallest. Thus, it will not do to say that words mean the thing they designate (or make us think of). Further problems beset this referential theory of meaning. Two expressions may have the same referent but not the same meaning (e.g., "the morning star" and "the evening star" denote the same planet, yet do not have exactly the same meaning). Meaningful phrases can also pretend to refer without really doing so (e.g., "the present king of France" is meaningful even though there is no such person). By contrast, semantic theories claim that the notion of meaning is best explained in terms of truth rather than reference, that a word's meaning should be explained in terms of its contribution to the truth conditions of the sentences in which it occurs. Difficulties with semantic theories led to the use theory of meaning, inspired by the work of L. Wittgenstein and J. L. Austin. It admits that not all words refer to something, and not all utterances are true or false; that what is common to all words and sentences is that people use them in speech (see speech act theory); and that their meaning may consequently be nothing more than their use, or, alternatively, the rules that govern their employment. See also semantics.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & adj. --n. 1 what is meant by a word, action, idea, etc. 2 significance. 3 importance. --adj. expressive, significant (a meaning glance). Derivatives: meaningly adv.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mean Mean, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Meant; p. pr. & vb. n. Meaning.] [OE. menen, AS. m[=ae]nan to recite, tell, intend, wish; akin to OS. m[=e]nian to have in mind, mean, D. meenen, G. meinen, OHG. meinan, Icel. meina, Sw. mena, Dan. mene, and to E. mind. ?. 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 ? --Ex. xii. 26. Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good. --Gen. 1. 20. I am not a Spaniard To say that it is yours and not to mean it. --Longfellow. 2. To signify; to indicate; to import; to denote. What mean these seven ewe lambs ? --Gen. xxi. 29. Go ye, and learn what that me?neth. --Matt. ix. 13.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Meaning Mean"ing, n. 1. That which is meant or intended; intent; purpose; aim; object; as, a mischievous meaning was apparent. If there be any good meaning towards you. --Shak. 2. That which is signified, whether by act lanquage; signification; sence; import; as, the meaning of a hint. 3. Sense; power of thinking. [R.] -- Mean"ing*less, a. -- Mean"ing*ly, adv.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(meanings) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. The meaning of a word, expression, or gesture is the thing or idea that it refers to or represents and which can be explained using other words. I hadn't a clue to the meaning of 'activism'... I became more aware of the symbols and their meanings. N-VAR 2. The meaning of what someone says or of something such as a book or film is the thoughts or ideas that are intended to be expressed by it. Unsure of the meaning of this remark, Ryle chose to remain silent... = significance N-VAR 3. If an activity or action has meaning, it has a purpose and is worthwhile. Art has real meaning when it helps people to understand themselves. ...a challenge that gives meaning to life. 4. If you mention something and say that someone doesn't know the meaning of the word, you are emphasizing that they have never experienced the thing mentioned or do not have the quality mentioned. Don't mention failure when Kevin is around. He doesn't know the meaning of the word. PHRASE: V inflects [emphasis]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Intention, intent, purpose, design, aim, object. 2. Signification, sense, acceptation, explanation, interpretation, import, purport, significance, force.

Moby Thesaurus

acceptation, aim, allegory, allusion, ambition, animus, arcane meaning, aspiration, assumption, balefulness, banefulness, bodefulness, characterization, coloration, connotation, construction, content, counsel, definition, denomination, denotation, description, desideration, desideratum, design, designation, desire, determination, diagnosis, differentiation, direness, disclosure, doomfulness, drift, effect, essence, explanation, expression, fatality, fatefulness, fingering, fixed purpose, force, function, gist, hint, idea, identification, implication, implied meaning, import, indication, indicativeness, inference, innuendo, intendment, intent, intention, interpretation, intimation, ironic suggestion, manifestation, message, metaphorical sense, mind, motive, naming, nisus, nuance, occult meaning, ominousness, overtone, picking out, plan, point, pointing, pointing out, pointing to, portent, portentousness, presagefulness, presumption, presupposition, project, proposal, prospectus, purport, purpose, reading, resolution, resolve, sake, selection, sense, show, showing, significance, significancy, signification, sinisterness, specification, spirit, striving, study, subsense, subsidiary sense, substance, suggestion, suggestiveness, sum and substance, supposition, symbolism, symptomaticness, tenor, tinge, touch, undercurrent, undermeaning, understanding, undertone, value, view, way of seeing, will