Part 6906

<h1>Mean</h1> <Xpage=905>

<hw>Mean</hw>, <tt>v. i.</tt> <def>To have a purpose or intention.</def> <mark>[Rare, except in the phrase to mean well, or ill.]</mark>

<i>Shak.</i>

<h1>Mean</h1> <Xpage=905>

<hw>Mean</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <wordforms>[<tt>Compar.</tt> <er>Meaner</er> <tt>(?)</tt>; <tt>superl.</tt> <er>Meanest</er>.]</wordforms> <ety>[OE. <ets>mene</ets>, AS. <ets>m<?/ne</ets> wicked; akin to <ets>m\'ben</ets>, a., wicked, n., wickedness, OS. <ets>m<?/n</ets> wickedness, OHG. <ets>mein</ets>, G. <ets>meineid</ets> perjury, Icel. <ets>mein</ets> harm, hurt, and perh. to AS. <ets>gem<?/ne</ets> common, general, D. <ets>gemeen</ets>, G. <ets>gemein</ets>, Goth. <ets>gam\'a0ins</ets>, and L. <ets>communis</ets>. The AS. <ets>gem<?/ne</ets> prob. influenced the meaning.]</ety>

<p><b>1.</b> <def>Destitute of distinction or eminence; common; low; vulgar; humble.</def> "Of <i>mean</i> parentage."

<i>Sir P. Sidney.</i>

<blockquote>The <b>mean</b> man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself. <i>Is. ii. 9.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Wanting dignity of mind; low-minded; base; destitute of honor; spiritless; <as>as, a <ex>mean</ex> motive</as>.</def>

<blockquote>Can you imagine I so <b>mean</b> could prove, To save my life by changing of my love ? <i>Dryden.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>Of little value or account; worthy of little or no regard; contemptible; despicable.</def>

<blockquote>The Roman legions and great C\'91sar found Our fathers no <b>mean</b> foes. <i>J. Philips.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>Of poor quality; <as>as, <ex>mean</ex> fare</as>.</def>

<p><b>5.</b> <def>Penurious; stingy; close-fisted; illiberal; <as>as, <ex>mean</ex> hospitality</as>.</def>

<note>&hand; <i>Mean</i> is sometimes used in the formation of compounds, the sense of which is obvious without explanation; as, <i>mean</i>born, <i>mean</i>-looking, etc.</note>

<syn>Syn. -- Base; ignoble; abject; beggarly; wretched; degraded; degenerate; vulgar; vile; servile; menial; spiritless; groveling; slavish; dishonorable; disgraceful; shameful; despicable; contemptible; paltry; sordid. See <er>Base</er>.</syn>

<h1>Mean</h1> <Xpage=905>

<hw>Mean</hw>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[OE. <ets>mene</ets>, OF. <ets>meiien</ets>, F. <ets>moyen</ets>, fr. L. <ets>medianus</ets> that is in the middle, fr. <ets>medius</ets>; akin to E. <ets>mid</ets>. See <er>Mid</er>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Occupying a middle position; middle; being about midway between extremes.</def>

<blockquote>Being of middle age and a <b>mean</b> stature. <i>Sir. P. Sidney.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Intermediate in excellence of any kind.</def>

<blockquote>According to the fittest style of lofty, <b>mean</b>, or lowly. <i>Milton.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <fld>(Math.)</fld> <def>Average; having an intermediate value between two extremes, or between the several successive values of a variable quantity during one cycle of variation; <as>as, <ex>mean</ex> distance; <ex>mean</ex> motion; <ex>mean</ex> solar day.</as></def>

<cs><col>Mean distance</col> (of a planet from the sun) <fld>(Astron.)</fld>, <cd>the average of the distances throughout one revolution of the planet, equivalent to the semi-major axis of the orbit.</cd> -- <col>Mean error</col> <fld>(Math. Phys.)</fld>, <cd>the average error of a number of observations found by taking the mean value of the positive and negative errors without regard to sign.</cd> -- <mcol><col>Mean-square error</col>, &or; <col>Error of the mean square</col></mcol> <fld>(Math. Phys.)</fld>, <cd>the error the square of which is the mean of the squares of all the errors; -- called also, especially by European writers, <altname>mean error</altname>.</cd> -- <col>Mean line</col>. <fld>(Crystallog.)</fld> <cd>Same as <er>Bisectrix</er>.</cd> -- <col>Mean noon</col>, <cd>noon as determined by mean time.</cd> -- <col>Mean proportional</col> (between two numbers) <fld>(Math.)</fld>, <cd>the square root of their product.</cd> -- <col>Mean sun</col>, <cd>a fictitious sun supposed to move uniformly in the equator so as to be on the meridian each day at mean noon.</cd> -- <col>Mean time</col>, <cd>time as measured by an equable motion, as of a perfect clock, or as reckoned on the supposition that all the days of the year are of a mean or uniform length, in contradistinction from <i>apparent<i> time, or that actually indicated by the sun, and from <i>sidereal<i> time, or that measured by the stars.</cd></cs>

<h1>Mean</h1> <Xpage=905>

<hw>Mean</hw>, <tt>n.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>That which is mean, or intermediate, between two extremes of place, time, or number; the middle point or place; middle rate or degree; mediocrity; medium; absence of extremes or excess; moderation; measure.</def>

<blockquote>But to speak in a <b>mean</b>, the virtue of prosperity is temperance; the virtue of adversity is fortitude. <i>Bacon.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>There is a <b>mean</b> in all things. <i>Dryden.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>The extremes we have mentioned, between which the wellinstracted Christian holds the <b>mean</b>, are correlatives. <i>I. Taylor.</i></blockquote>