Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Meaning

Mean′ing

,
Noun.
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.
Shakespeare
2.
That which is signified, whether by act lanquage; signification; sense; import;
as, the
meaning
of a hint
.
3.
Sense; power of thinking.
[R.]
Mean′ing-less
,
Adj.
Mean′ing-ly
,
adv.

Webster 1828 Edition


Meaning

ME'ANING

,
ppr.
Having in mind; intending; signifying.

ME'ANING

,
Noun.
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.]

Definition 2024


meaning

meaning

English

Noun

meaning (plural meanings)

  1. The symbolic value of something.
    • 1907, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “chapter VIII”, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 4241346:
      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 significance of a thing.
    the meaning of life
  3. (semantics) The objects or concept that a word or phrase denotes, or that which a sentence says.
  4. (obsolete) Intention.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Sir Walter Raleigh:
      It was their meaning to take what they needed by stronghand.
    • 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
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From mean + -ing.

Verb

meaning

  1. present participle 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.
  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.

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