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 apparentIf 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 hint3.
Sense; power of thinking.
[R.]
– Mean′ing-less
, Adj.
Mean′ing-ly
, adv.
Webster 1828 Edition
Meaning
ME'ANING
,ppr.
ME'ANING
,Noun.
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)
- 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."
-
- The significance of a thing.
- the meaning of life
- (semantics) The objects or concept that a word or phrase denotes, or that which a sentence says.
- (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?
- (Can we date this quote?) Sir Walter Raleigh:
Synonyms
- (significance): sense
- (symbolic concept): definition (semantics)
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Terms derived from meaning (noun)
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Translations
symbolic value of something
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significance of a thing, as "the meaning of life"
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definition or connotation of a word
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Etymology 2
Verb
meaning
- 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)
- Having a (specified) intention.
- 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.
- 1839, Edgar Allan Poe, ‘William Wilson’: