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Definition: Meaning |
MeaningAdjective1. Rich in significance or implication; "a meaning look"; "pregnant with meaning". Noun1. The message that is intended or expressed. 2. The idea that is intended; "What is the meaning of this proverb?". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "meaning" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1200. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Meaning is one of the most difficult and complex concepts we have, studied in semantics (a branch of linguistics) and in the philosophy of language (the theory of meaning in particular).See especially: philosophy of language and the meaning of meaning.
Meaning in a wider sense is also part of the general theory of information.
This theory tries to formulate rules, about
The meaning of an information or a thing is its value or its sense.
- the way meaningful information is emerging
- how meaningful information is conserved
- how the meaning of something can be measured
- how information with meaning is lost again.
Often the meaning of an information or a thing is only realized, when it is lost or it tends to get lost.
How does meaning come up ?
Meaningful things can come upMany people think, that meaningful things can only be made by mankind. That of course depends on the way, how the word meaning is defined. How broad or narrow you think of it. From a scientific point of view meaning can emerge out of nature itself, without the help of man or any other creator. An important example of the new production of meaning is the biological evolution of new species.
- out of nature
- out of human activity
- out of the activity of God or other religous concepts
How can we measure meaning ?
The quality of an information , its meaning, is not as easily measured as the quantity of an information. You can think of a book, in which you can find only nonsense. On the other hand you can think of a book full of mathematical formulas. In the second book every letter and every sign have their meaning. The quantity of information , for example the number of letters or the number of pages, can be the same. The quality of both books is certainly different.Here we must establish other criterias to measure the quality of its information: For example:
The quantity of meaning can be quite small, whereas the quantity of kilobytes can be quite big. You can fill a screen of your computer with randomly choosen letters. Then you have a maximum of information quantity but a minimum of information quality.
- How often was the book printed ?
- How often was it bought ?
- How many editions did the book have ?
- How long is the book on the market ?
- In how many other languages was this book translated ?
- How do critics think about this book ?
- How does the public think about this book ?
In which sequence of information don`t we find any meaning ?
If you take a random sequence of 0 and 1, then you can assign to it only some meaning on how long this sequence is or how it was created. Aside this you can not find any meaning in it.
Information with meaning is always something in between complete randomness and complete uniform order
Literature
- Stonier, Tom: Information and Meaning. An Evolutionary Perspective. 1997. XIII, 255 p. 23,5 cm.
- ISBN: 3-540-76139-X - SPRINGER, B.-
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Meaning."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In general, Semantics (from the Greek semantikos, or "significant meaning," derived from "sema," sign) always refers to some kind of meaning (of something that is written) and is thus usually opposed to syntax, which refers to the formal way in which something is written.
Cognitive linguistics
- phonetics
- phonology
- morphology
- syntax
- grammar
- semantics
- lexical semantics
- stylistics
- pragmatics
1. Semantics is a subfield of linguistics that is traditionally defined as the study of meaning. One area of study is the meaning of compounds, another is the study of relations between different linguistic expressions (homonymy, synonymy, antonymy, polysemy, hypernymy, hyponymy). Semantics includes the study of thematic roles. Semantics deals with sense and reference, truth conditions and discourse analysis. Pragmatics is often considered a part of semantics.
See also: semantic property, semantic class, semantic feature, semantic progression
2. "Semantics" is also used as a term in mathematics and computer science. See denotational semantics.
3. Semantics is also a branch of formal logic, alongside Grammar, Proof Theory, and Applications. Semantics provides "interpretations" of formal languages, in the strict sense that an interpretation is a mapping of the atomic elements of a language (the simple sentences; or the simple terms, predicates, and operators) into a "domain of interpretation" (truth values, or objects, or numbers) so as way as to provide enough information to evaluate all the sentences in the language, or at least in the theory under question; and semantics provides the method for deriving these valuations of whole sentences, theories, etc., from the interpretations of their parts.
See also:
- Semantic link
- Semantic network
- Formal logic
- General Semantics
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Semantics."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
So let's talk about the meaning of "meaning." And so we are going to explore, for a little bit, what is called the theory of meaning. We are going to focus on linguistic meaning -- the meaning that words, sentences, and other items of language have, as well as the meaning that we human beings can have in using those items of language. Because "meaning" is, like most English words, highly ambiguous -- has lots of different senses. But when we ask what the meaning of "meaning" is, in the theory of meaning, we're asking about language or linguistic meaning.
The awful thing -- what makes the theory of meaning so difficult -- is that there are lots of different kinds linguistic meaning. So it's better to speak of the meanings, plural, of "meaning": the meanings of "meaning." Consider this example:
What is the meaning of "Barry is a bachelor."?
- Suppose I'm at a party and I'm talking to a guy for a bit. His name is Jerry. It's a noisy party but I think I hear Jerry say that his name is "Barry," and that he's a bachelor. So now I incorrectly think this guy's name is Barry, and not Jerry. So then I move on and start talking to a single female friend. She points in the general direction of Jerry, and asks, "Who is that, and is he single?" I don't notice that she's actually pointing to some other guy, not Jerry. And the name of the guy that she is pointing to is, in fact, "Barry." But I think she's pointing to Jerry, and I think that Jerry's name is "Barry," and so I tell her, "Oh, Barry is a bachelor."
To use the Barry/Jerry example: when I say "Barry is a bachelor," what I mean, what I intend to say is, roughly paraphrased, that the man I met is a bachelor. But what my words mean is that the man my female friend is pointing to, a man whose name really is "Barry," is a bachelor. The speaker's meaning here is about one person, while the semantic meaning is about a different person. Usually they match up, but sometimes they don't.
- First, draw a distinction between what I mean, and what my words mean.
- What do I mean when I say, "Barry is a bachelor"?
- By contrast, what do my words, "Barry is a bachelor," mean in this situation?
- There are two different things that have meaning, or that bear meaning: namely, speakers, and words.
- So the distinction has been drawn, by the prominent contemporary American philosopher Saul Kripke, between speaker's meaning and semantic meaning.
- The speaker's meaning is, roughly stated, what the speaker means by saying something; the semantic meaning is, roughly stated, what the words uttered by the speaker mean.
- Sometimes we want to say that the speaker's meaning and the semantic meaning are different -- simply because we don't always say what we mean.
- Sometimes we use words that do not actually express what we want to express; so our words mean one thing, and what we mean by them is another thing.
Here's another example where speaker's meaning and semantic meaning don't match up.
So that's one complication that a theory of meaning has to deal with: different kinds of meaning-bearers. When we ask, "What is the meaning of 'meaning??" then you can now come back and ask, cleverly, "Do you mean the meaning of 'speaker's meaning? or the meaning of 'semantic meaning??"
- Suppose I'm out stargazing, just after sunset. So the stars are just starting to come out. So I mention something about "the brightest star in the sky" to a friend. Now it so happens that at that moment, the brightest star in the sky is the star called "Vega." So my words, "the brightest star in the sky," refer to the star Vega. But what I mean is actually a brighter celestial object, namely the planet Venus. I just don't realize at that time that that object is a planet, not a star. So what I mean by "the brightest star in the sky" is Venus, whereas what my words mean is Vega. The speaker's meaning differs from the semantic meaning in that case.
Another complication are the semantic meaning-bearers -- you know, words, phrases, sentences, and so forth. As mentioned, we can speak of individual words, all by themselves, such as the word "bachelor," having meaning; we can speak of various kinds of phrases, such as "the brightest star in the sky," and "is larger than"; we can speak of the meaning of whole sentences, such as "Barry is a bachelor." The meaning of a whole sentence is clearly a different critter from the meaning of an individual word.
And then among words and phrases we can distinguish different parts of speech, such as noun phrases and adjectival phrases, and of course those are going to have different kinds of meaning. And clearly proper names, which are names that stand for individuals, like "Jerry" and "Barry," and "Paris," and "Venus," are going to have yet another kind of meaning.
See also Gottlob Frege, John Austin, Ludwig Wittgenstein
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "The meaning of meaning."
Synonyms: MeaningSynonyms: meaning(a) (adj), pregnant (adj), significant (adj), import (n), significance (n), signification (n), substance (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Imagination | General meaning, broad meaning, substantial meaning, colloquial meaning, literal meaning, plain meaning, simple meaning, natural meaning, unstrained meaning, true; (exact) meaning, honest; meaning, prima facie; (manifest) meaning; letter of the law. |
Interpretation | Noun: interpretation, definition; explanation, explication; solution, answer; rationale; plain interpretation, simple interpretation, strict interpretation; meaning. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Meaning |
| English words defined with "meaning": grammatical meaning ♦ lexical meaning ♦ word meaning. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "meaning": extensional meaning ♦ Singular in Meaning. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "meaning": Y-. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I have to believe that my actions still have meaning even if I can't remember them (Memento; writing credit: Bo Goldman; Lawrence Hauben) Santa, what's the meaning of Christmas (How the Grinch Stole Christmas; writing credit: Jeffrey Price) Sergeant, what's the meaning of this (Black Hawk Down; writing credit: Ken Nolan) Searching for a boy in high school is like searching for meaning in a Pauly Shore movie (Clueless; writing credit: Amy Heckerling.) Think about something that does have meaning my life (Enter the Matrix; writing credit: Andy Wachowski; Larry Wachowski) | |
Lyrics | I'd never try to give my life meaning by demeaning you (32 Flavors; performing artist: Alana Davis) If your words have meaning (I'll Never Break Your Heart; performing artist: Backstreet Boys) I've learned the meaning of repentance (Just One More Chance; performing artist: Bing Crosby) When meaning falls in splinters from our lives (Sentimental Lady; performing artist: BOB WELCH; writing credit: Bob Welch) Baby You're the meaning in my life (You're the Inspiration; performing artist: Chicago) | |
Clever | Canada is an Indian word meaning "Big Village". (references; author: unknown) A word gets its meaning by the person who speaks it. (references; author: unknown) The meaning of life is not a question to be answered, but an event to be experienced. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia (2002) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Periodicals |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Giving new meaning to getting a tow. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | A double meaning. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Mrs. Nettie Hunt, sitting on steps of Supreme Court, holding newspaper, explaining to her daughter Nikie the meaning of the Supreme Court's decision banning school segregation. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia : the meaning of it's symbol. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Who am I" by Piers Warmers Commentary: "A little friend, contemplating the meaning of life. Taken @ Myall lakes, NSW, Australia. Let me know if you want a bigger copy." | "Spring Chicken" by B0at B0at Commentary: "Spring chicken in the yard, pondering the meaning of life and from where the next bug's going to come." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Benjamin Franklin | Words may show a man's wit but actions his meaning. |
Epictetus | First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak. |
Ira Progoff | The meaning of life cannot be told; it has to happen to a person. |
Jacques Barzun | Art distills sensations and embodies it with enhanced meaning. |
Johann Friedrich Von Schiller | Dare to err and to dream. Deep meaning often lies in childish plays. |
John Ruskin | Be sure that you go to the author to get at his meaning, not to find yours. |
Novalis | Only an artist can interpret the meaning of life. |
Plato | Man -- a being in search of meaning. |
Viktor E. Frankl | Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Marbury v. Madison | 1803 | The subsequent part of the section is mere surplusage, is entirely without meaning, if such is to be the construction. (reference) |
Communist Manifesto | 1848 | This talk about free selling and buying, and all the other "brave words" of our bourgeoisie about freedom in general, have a meaning, if any, only in contrast with restricted selling and buying, with the fettered traders of the Middle Ages, but have no meaning when opposed to the Communistic abolition of buying and selling, of the bourgeois conditions of production, and of the bourgeoisie itself. (reference) |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | The expression "formal indication of insolvency" bears the same meaning as it has in English law. (reference) |
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. | 1963 | I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." (Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1906) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | The couplet does not cease to be, nor does its meaning change |
Sylvie and Bruno Concluded | Carroll, Lewis | But let me put one more case, which will show my meaning even more forcibly |
A Christmas Carol | Dickens, Charles | The Phantom was exactly as it had been, but he dreaded that he saw new meaning in its solemn shape |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Cosette felt the meaning of this word still more than she understood it. |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | Try to imagine the awful meaning of this |
King Richard III | Shakespeare, William | I will not reason what is meant hereby, Because I will be guiltless from the meaning. |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift, Jonathan | I spoke in the Balnibarbian tongue, and my interpreter delivered my meaning in that of Luggnagg |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | In globe, glb, the guttural g adds to the meaning the capacity of the throat |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | The meaning of these results is complex. (references) | |
Ask the meaning of any medical term you don't understand. (references) | ||
Celiac disease is a genetic disease, meaning that it runs in families. (references) | ||
Business | This meaning that at this point they don't consider IP telephony companies a real competence problem. (references) | |
The service must understand the difference between certain words or phrases and how the meaning may change depending on the context. (references) | ||
However, the proposed scheme involves only one energy carrier (electricity) meaning that it discriminates against other energy carriers. (references) | ||
Children | Congo | Extremely poor economic circumstances often hamper parents' ability to afford these added expenses, meaning that children may not be able to attend school. (references) |
Civil Liberties | Cuba | The Cardinal again suggested that to overcome these misconceptions the Church and State should engage in a "profound discussion" on the meaning of religion in society. (references) |
Economic History | Ukraine | Only the written word and the specific subject, as defined by law, have meaning. (references) |
Indigenous People | Belize | Among the country's indigenous people, the Mopan and Ke'kchi are grouped under the general term Maya, although their leaders say that they should be identified as the Masenal, meaning "common people." The Maya have sought official recognition of their communal claims to land, but the Government has been reluctant to single out one ethnic group for special consideration. (references) |
Minorities | Mauritania | The majority of those known as Black Moors are Haratine, literally meaning "one who has been freed," although some Black Moor families never were enslaved. (references) |
Kuwait | The bidoon (a term meaning "without") are Arabs who have residency ties to Kuwait--some going back for generations, some for briefer periods--but who have no documentation of their nationality. (references) | |
Political Economy | JAPAN | Trademarks must be registered in Japan to ensure enforcement, meaning delays make it difficult for foreign parties to enforce their marks. (references) |
BANGLADESH | Government procurement generally takes place through a tendering process, which is typically not transparent, meaning U.S. businesses are not always guaranteed a level field for competing. (references) | |
Venezuela | A central theme of Chávez's "Bolivarian Revolution" is the need for "participatory democracy." While the actual meaning of "participatory democracy" remains unclear, the Chávez government has had an uneasy relationship with civil society organizations. (references) | |
Trade | Australia | Australian electrical voltage is 220-240 Volts, 50 cycle, meaning electrical equipment and machines running on electrical cycles must be modified or made for use at this higher (than the U.S. and Europe) voltage level. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | MEDAL, n. A small metal disk given as a reward for virtues, attainments or services more or less authentic. It is related of Bismark, who had been awarded a medal for gallantly rescuing a drowning person, that, being asked the meaning of the medal, he replied: "I save lives sometimes." And sometimes he didn't. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Mohammed Aldouri | Well, we hope really not. We know what is the meaning of the war, and Americans also know exactly what is the meaning of the war. Instead of that, we want to have a very peaceful relations with the United States. |
Rush Limbaugh | Thursday, I pointed out a story from earlier in the week about how Coretta Scott King said there ought not be any time off on her husband's holiday, that it should be a time-on day, meaning people ought to go to work and kids ought to go to school. |
Sylvia Browne | Every dream has a meaning. Every dream has a meaning. Even the ones that are spotty and, you know, you're here and you jump here and you do this and you're, you know, you're frantic. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
James Monroe | 1817-1825 | A treaty concluded in conformity with instructions is obligatory, in good faith, in all its stipulations, according to the true intent and meaning of the parties. |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963-1969 | This is the majesty and the meaning of this moment. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | In Nicaragua, the struggle has extra meaning because that nation is so near our own borders. |
George Bush | 1989-1993 | It's doing the things that give democracy meaning. |
George W. Bush | 2001-2005 | If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Meaning" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 95.90% of the time. "Meaning" is used about 6,535 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 95.9% | 6,267 | 1,551 |
| Lexical Verb (-ing form) | 4.08% | 267 | 18,030 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.02% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 6,535 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes names derived from the word "meaning". | |||
| Name | Gender | Language | Meaning |
| Apharsathchites | N/A | Biblical | Apharsites (from a root meaning) dividing or rending |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references.
| |||
Expressions using "meaning": a look full of meaning ♦ basic meaning ♦ darkness of meaning ♦ deeper meaning ♦ double meaning ♦ doubtful meaning ♦ extensional meaning ♦ extort a meaning ♦ figurative meaning ♦ full of meaning ♦ grammatical meaning ♦ has now quite another meaning ♦ have a doubtful meaning ♦ have a false meaning ♦ hidden meaning ♦ implicit meaning ♦ implied meaning ♦ inner meaning ♦ lexical meaning ♦ manifest meaning ♦ multiple meaning ♦ of double meaning ♦ pregnant with meaning ♦ real meaning ♦ secondary meaning ♦ seize the meaning of ♦ shade of meaning ♦ the meaning lies on the surface ♦ the Meaning of `Hack' ♦ unlawful meaning ♦ well meaning ♦ what is the meaning of this word? ♦ whatever the meaning of the word ♦ whence the new meaning of the word ♦ with a meaning look ♦ without meaning it ♦ word meaning ♦ words of opposite meaning ♦ wrest from meaning. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "meaning": meaning-altering, meaning-bearing, meaning-capacity, meaning-content, meaning-driven, meaning-effect, meaning-fully, meaning-getting, meaning-in-context, meaning-maker, meaning-makers, meaning-nn, meaning-of-life, meaning-oriented, meaning-preserving, meaning-related, meaning-relations, meaning-similarity, meaning-specifications, meaning-to-sound, meaning-words. | |
Ending with "meaning": form-meaning, non-meaning, sentence-meaning, utterance-meaning, well-meaning, word-meaning. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
name meaning | 13,099 | japanese meaning name | 150 |
dream meaning | 2,451 | the meaning of love | 136 |
meaning of baby name | 2,155 | chinese symbol and meaning | 134 |
last name meaning | 927 | meaning of words | 119 |
first name meaning | 713 | baby name and their meaning | 118 |
meaning song | 639 | iq meaning score | 117 |
meaning of flower | 531 | celtic symbol meaning | 115 |
surname meaning | 471 | free dream meaning | 97 |
meaning of life | 412 | biblical meaning name | 95 |
name and their meaning | 379 | christian meaning of name | 91 |
meaning of rose | 296 | gem stone meaning | 90 |
meaning | 280 | add anything can meaning please | 89 |
colors meaning | 240 | lyrics meaning | 86 |
color meaning | 219 | colors meaning rose | 82 |
word meaning | 215 | dream their meaning | 70 |
name meaning and origin | 210 | indian name and meaning | 66 |
rose color meaning | 174 | arabic meaning name | 62 |
meaning tattoo | 171 | african meaning name | 60 |
tarot card meaning | 164 | free meaning name | 60 |
symbol meaning | 160 | iq meaning | 58 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "meaning"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | plan (design, diagram, intention, plan, plane, project, scheme), betekenis (acceptation), beduidenis (acceptation, indication), bedoeling (acceptation, intention, plan). (various references) | |
Albanian | kuptim (comprehension, conception, construction, drift, hang, import, perception, point, purport, realization, sense, significance, signification, stress, understanding), domethënie (connotation, drift, import, importance, purport, sense, significance). (various references) | |
Arabic | نية (plan, scheme), مغزى (import, moral, moral of a fable, purport, sense, significance, signification, tenor), معنى (concept, import, purport, sense, significance), مضمون (content, ensured, guaranteed, import, purport, registered, secured, signification, tenor, warranted), مراد (intended, intentional, studied), مدلول (significance), إعتزام. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | значение (account, amount, consequence, consideration, denotation, hang, heft, import, importance, intention, interest, magnitude, matter, message, moment, notability, object, pith, sense, significance, signification, tenor, value, weight). (various references) | |
Chinese | 意思 (idea, opinion). (various references) | |
Czech | význam (denotement, import, importance, moment, purport, sense, significance, value), smysl (appreciation, effect, import, purport, purpose, reason, tenor). (various references) | |
Danish | betydning (acceptation), hensigt (aim, goal, intention, plan, purpose, target). (various references) | |
Dutch | strekking (intention, moral, plan, tendency), plan (design, diagram, intention, level, plan, plane, project, scheme), doel (aim, goal, intention, plan, purpose, target), betekenis (acceptation, concern, sense), bedoeling (intention, plan). (various references) | |
Esperanto | signifo, senco (sense), intenco (intention, plan). (various references) | |
Faeroese | merking (acceptation), meining (contention, opinion, sense), týdningur (acceptation, sense). (various references) | |
Finnish | merkitys (importance, sense, significance). (various references) | |
French | signification, sens, intention, importance. (various references) | |
Frisian | foarnimmen (intention, plan), doel (aim, goal, intention, plan, purpose, target), betsjutting (acceptation). (various references) | |
German | Bedeutung (acceptation, bearing, concern, consequence, definition, denotation, greatness, implication, importance, largeness, magnitude, moment, notability, notable, prominence, relevancy, significance, signification, value, weight, worth), Sinn (acceptation, feel, feeling, inclination, mind, point, sensation, sense, signification, spirit). (various references) | |
Greek | έννοια (comprehension, concept, connotation, construction, implication, notion, sense, worry), σημασία (acceptation, account, comprehension, consequence, denotation, import, importance, magnitude, purport, purview, significance, significancy, signification). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מובן (comprehensible, intelligible, lucid, sense, understandable), משמעות (connotation, implication, purport, sense, significance, signification), שמוע (sense, significance), פשר (explanation, interpretation, solution), כונה (design, intent, intention, purport, purpose, significance, spirit), התכונות (directing, intending, intention), באור (commentary, explanation). (various references) | |
Hungarian | jelentés (application, application report, connotation, denotation, despatch, dispatch, import, memorandum, purport, report, sense, significance). (various references) | |
Indonesian | pengartian (understanding), artinya (that is), artian (concept), arti (sense, significance, signification). (various references) | |
Irish | brí. (various references) | |
Italian | significato (acceptation, drift, import, importance, purport, sense, significance, signification), intenzione (aim, attitude, intent, intention, mind, plan, purpose, thought). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 趣旨 (object), 趣 (appearance, aspect, charm, effect, gist, grace, influence, refinement, taste, tenor). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | おもむき (appearance, aspect, charm, effect, gist, grace, influence, refinement, taste, tenor), しゅい (aim, first place, gist, head position, idea, leading position, main meaning, motive, opinion), しゅし (finger, gist, idea, motive, object, opinion, pit, seed), いぎ (different meaning, dignified manner, dignity, dissent, majesty, objection, protest, significance), いみないよう (semantic content), いみ (abstinence, religious purification, significance, taboo), わけがら (circumstances, reason), わけあい (circumstances, reason), わけ (can be deduced, circumstances, division, draw, reason, sharing, situation, tie), あじわい (flavour, significance). (various references) | |
Korean | 의미 (semantic, significance, signification, Signifying). (various references) | |
Malay | maksud (aim, goal, intention, plan, purpose, target), makna (acceptation), arti (acceptation). (various references) | |
Manx | fo bree (within the meaning). (various references) | |
Papiamen | sentido (acceptation, sentence), nifikashon (acceptation), intenshon (intention, plan). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | eaningmay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | significado (account, amount, drift, effect, hang, import, purport, sense, significance, signification, tenor), sentido (direction, eye, feeling, hang, hearty, import, purport, sense, signification, tenor, way), intenção (aim, contemplation, counsel, intension, intent, intention, mind, objective, plan, purport, purpose, purview, resolution, why). (various references) | |
Romanian | sens (acceptance, acceptation, amount, bearing, direction, drift, hang, importance, logic, purport, reason, sense, signification, traffic, use, value, way), semnificativ (considerable, eloquent, emphatic, expressive, graphic, graphical, important, knowing, meaningful, meaningfully, notional, significant, significantly, significative, telling), semnificaţie (amount, gut, importance, noteworthiness, pregnancy, sense, significance, signification, value), scop (aim, butt, consummation, design, designation, effect, end, goal, intent, intention, Mark, mission, object, objective, order, purpose, scope, serve, target, turn, use), plan (contrivance, counsel, design, device, disposition, draft, even, idea, intention, level, map, outline, plain, plan, plane, program, programme, project, proposal, schedule, scheme, scheming, skeleton, syllabus, tabular), intenţie (aim, contemplation, design, effect, mind, notion, order, purport, purpose, thought, turn, will), cu înţeles (knowing, knowingly, meaningful), înţeles (import, sense, significance, signification, spirit). (various references) | |
Russian | смысл (import, purport, semantics, sense), означать значение, значение (account, consequence, importance, meanings, purport, sense, significance, signification, store, value). (various references) | |
Scottish | brìgh (acceptation, essence, matter, nourishment, pith, power, sap, stuff, substance). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | značenje (content, purport, significance), smisao (import, point, purport, sense, signification, talent). (various references) | |
Spanish | intención (animus, design, intent, intention, mind, plan, purport, purpose, slyness), significado (implyed, import, point, purport, purposefulness, sense, significance, significancy, signification). (various references) | |
Swahili | maana (acceptation). (various references) | |
Swedish | betydelse (acceptation, account, bearing, consequence, denotation, distinction, import, importance, largeness, meanings, moment, sense, significance, signification, weight), betyder (means). (various references) | |
Tagalog | hangárin (intention, plan), bálak (intention, plan). (various references) | |
Thai | ความหมาย (drift), จุดประสงค์. (various references) | |
Turkish | anlam (acceptation, construction, content, denotation, effect, explanation, hang, import, inference, point, purport, purview, sense, significance, significancy, signification, sound, strain, tenor), amaç (aim, bourn, Bourne, cause, consummation, design, destination, dream, drift, function, goal, idea, ideal, intent, intention, mission, object, objective, plan, point, purpose, purview, scope, sense, target, terminus, turn, use, view, wherefore, will). (various references) | |
Turkmen | many, дhmiяet (importance, significance). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | значущий (notional), значення (account, bearing, consequence, знаЧеннЯ [n], import, intent, purport, sense, significance, significancy, signification, sound, value, weight), зміст (contents, meat, tenor, text), багатозначний (meaningful, polysemic, significant). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | nghĩa (signification), có ý nghĩa (meaningful), ý nghĩa (amount, drift), đầy ý nghĩa (meaningful, significant). (various references) | |
Welsh | meddwl (mean, opinion, think, thought), ystyr (sense). (various references) | |
Zulu | injongo (intention, plan). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | acceptio, acceptione, intellectu, intellectum, intellectus, interpretatio, interpretatione, interpretationem, interpretationes, interpretationibus, sensus, sententia, significantia, significationem. (various references) |
| Old English | 450-1100 | andgit. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Acts Chapter 27, Verse 2 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | EpibanteV de ploiw adramutthnw mellonteV plein touV kata thn asian topouV anhcqhmen ontoV sun hmin aristarcou makedonoV qessalonikewV |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Ascendentes autem navem hadrumetinam incipientem navigare circa Asiae loca sustulimus perseverante nobiscum Aristarcho Macedone Thessalonicense |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And we wenten vp in to the schip of Adrymetis, and bigunnen to seile, and weren borun aboute the placis of Asie, while Aristark of Macedonye, Tessalonycence, dwellide stille with vs. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And we entred into a ship of Adramicium and lowsed from lond apoynted to sayle by the costes of Asia one Aristarcus out of Macedonia of the contre of Thessalia beinge with vs. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we lanched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia, one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | And we went to sea in a ship of Adramyttium which was sailing to the sea towns of Asia, Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Acts Chapter 27, Verse 2 |
| Albanian | Hipëm në një anije të Adramitit, që duhej të kalonte nga portet e brigjeve të Azisë, dhe lundronim duke pasur me vete Aristarkun, një maqedonas nga Thesaloniki. |
| Cebuano | Ug sa nakasakay na kami sa usa ka sakayan nga taga-Adramito nga gumigikan padulong sa mga dunggoanan sa kabaybayonan sa Asia, migikan kami kinuyogan ni Aristarco, usa ka Macedonianhon nga taga Tesalonica. |
| Croatian | Popesmo se na neku adramitsku laðu koja je imala ploviti u azijska mjesta pa otplovismo. S nama je bio Aristarh Makedonac, Solunjanin. |
| Danish | Vi gik da om Bord på et adramyttisk Skib, som skulde gå til Stederne langs med Asiens Kyster, og vi sejlede af Sted; og Aristarkus, en Makedonier fra Thessalonika, var med os. |
| Dutch | En in een Adramyttenisch schip gegaan zijnde, alzo wij de plaatsen langs Azie bevaren zouden, voeren wij af; en Aristarchus, de Macedonier van Thessalonica, was met ons. |
| Finnish | Ja me astuimme adramyttiläiseen laivaan, jonka oli määrä purjehtia Aasian rannikkopaikkoihin, ja lähdimme merelle, ja seurassamme oli Aristarkus, makedonialainen Tessalonikasta. |
| French | Nous montâmes sur un navire d`Adramytte, qui devait côtoyer l`Asie, et nous partîmes, ayant avec nous Aristarque, Macédonien de Thessalonique. |
| German | Da wir aber in ein adramyttisches Schiff traten, daß wir an Asien hin schiffen sollten, fuhren wir vom Lande; und mit uns war Aristarchus aus Mazedonien, von Thessalonich. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Kami naik ke kapal yang datang dari Adramitium, kemudian berangkat dengan kapal itu yang sudah siap berlayar ke pelabuhan-pelabuhan di provinsi Asia. Aristarkhus, seorang Makedonia yang datang dari Tesalonika, berlayar juga bersama-sama dengan kami. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Maka kami pun naiklah ke sebuah kapal yang dari Aderamitium, yang sedang berlayar menyusur teluk rantau Asia, lalu kami pun bertolaklah. Maka adalah bersama-sama dengan kami Aristarkus, orang Makedonia dari negeri Tesalonika. |
| Italian | Salimmo su una nave di Adramitto, che stava per partire verso i porti della provincia d'Asia e salpammo, avendo con noi Aristarco, un Macèdone di Tessalonica. |
| Latvian | Iekâpuði kâdâ Andrumetijas kuìî, mçs aizbraucâm, sâkdami ceïojumu gar Âzijas piekrasti. Maíedonietis Aristarhs no Tesalonîkes bija pie mums. |
| Maori | Na eke ana matou ki tetahi kaipuke o Ataramituma, e tika ana ra nga kainga o Ahia, rere ana matou; ko Aritaku o Teharonika, he tangata no Makeronia, to matou hoa. |
| Portuguese | E, embarcando em um navio de Adramítio, que estava prestes a navegar em demanda dos portos pela costa da Ásia, fizemo-nos ao mar, estando conosco Aristarco, macedônio de Tessalônica. |
| Rumanian | Ne-am suit kntr`o corabie dela Adramit, care avea sq meargq pe coasta Asiei, wi am pornit. Aveam cu noi pe Aristarh Macedoneanul din Tesalonic. |
| Russian | нЩ ЧЪПЫМЙ ОБ бДТБНЙФУЛЙК ЛПТБВМШ Й ПФРТБЧЙМЙУШ, ОБНЕТЕЧБСУШ РМЩФШ ПЛПМП бУЙКУЛЙИ НЕУФ. у ОБНЙ ВЩМ бТЙУФБТИ, нБЛЕДПОСОЙО ЙЪ жЕУУБМПОЙЛЙ. |
| Shuar | Tura Atramitiunmaya kanu Asia nunkanam pepru ármia nui wétasa pujumia nu enkemprarmiaji. Tura Tisarúnikianmaya aishman, ni naari Aristárku, iin Páchitkiauyayi. Tisarúnikiasha Masetúnia nunkanmaiti. |
| Swahili | Tulipanda meli ya Adiramito iliyokuwa inasafiri na kupitia bandari kadhaa za mkoa wa Asia, tukaanza safari. Aristarko, mwenyeji wa Makedonia kutoka Thesalonika, alikuwa pamoja nasi. |
| Uma | Yulius mpopehawi' -kai hi kapal bohe ngkai ngata Adramitium, to sadia-mi me'ongko' mpotoa' ngata-ngata hi wiwi' tahi' to hi propinsi Asia. Me'ongko' mpu'u-makai. Doo-kai hi pomakoa' toe, Aristarkhus, to ngkai ngata Tesalonika hi tana' Makedonia. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "meaning": meaningful, meaningfully, meaningfulness, meaningfulnesses, meaningless, meaninglessly, meaninglessness, meaninglessnesses, meaningly, meanings. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "meaning": bemeaning, demeaning, unmeaning. (additional references) | |
Words containing "meaning": nonmeaningful. (additional references) | |
| |
"Meaning" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: mainin, maining, Mansing, Meading, Meakins, Mealing, meanding, Meani, meanin, Mearig, meating, mecanno, Meenan, meening, Meinig, meiningen, Meinong, menin, Menini, menino, mennin, menuing, mesanin, Mevanian, mewnni, Misanin, Myaing, nuancing. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "meaning" (pronounced mē"ning) |
| 5 | m ē" n i ng | demeaning. |
| 4 | -ē" n i ng | careening, cleaning, convening, greening, intervening, leaning, machining, preening, screening, weaning. |
| 3 | -n i ng | apportioning, abstaining, abandoning, adjoining, adjourning, aligning, ascertaining, assigning, attaining, auctioning, auditioning, awakening, awning, ballooning, banning, bargaining, battening, beckoning, beginning, bemoaning, binning, blackening, bludgeoning, boning, branning, brightening, brining, broadening, Browning, burdening, burgeoning, burning, campaigning, caning, Canning, captioning, cartooning, cautioning, chaining, championing, chaperoning, cheapening, christening, churning, cloning, clowning, coarsening, cocooning, coining, combining, commissioning, complaining, concerning, conditioning, condoning, confining, conning, constraining, containing, Corning, couponing, crooning, crowning, cunning, cushioning, dampening, darkening, dawning, deadening, deafening, declining, decommissioning, deepening, defining, Denning, designing, detaining, determining, dining, Dinning, discerning, disciplining, disdaining, disheartening, disillusioning, divining, donning, Downing, draining, droning, drowning, Dunning, Durning, earning, enjoining, enlightening, entertaining, envisioning, evening, examining, explaining, fanning, fashioning, fastening, fattening, fawning, feigning, fining, finning, flattening, freshening, frightening, frowning, functioning, gaining, gardening, ginning, glistening, governing, grinning, groaning, gunning, happening, hardening, hastening, headlining, heartening, heightening, honing, Horning, housecleaning, imagining, imprisoning, impugning, inning, intertwining, intoning, ironing, jawboning, jettisoning, joining, Kenning, learning, leavening, lengthening, lessening, lightening, lightning, likening, lining, listening, loaning, loosening, maddening, maintaining, malfunctioning, Manning, margining, mentioning, midmorning, mining, moaning, morning, motioning, mourning, obtaining, opening, opining, ordaining, orphaning, outlining, overrunning, overtraining, overturning, owning, panning, pardoning, partitioning, penning, pertaining, petitioning, phoning, pining, pinning, planning, poisoning, positioning, postponing, preplanning, provisioning, pruning, quarantining, questioning, quickening, raining, rationing, realigning, reasoning, reassigning, reawakening, reckoning, reclining, reconditioning, redefining, redesigning, redlining, reexamining, refining, refraining, regaining, reigning, reining, rejoining, relearning, remaining, reopening, repositioning, rerunning, resigning, restraining, retaining, retraining, returning, rezoning, ripening, ruining, running, saddening, sanctioning, scanning, seasoning, sectioning, sharpening, shining, shortening, shunning, sickening, signing, sinning, siphoning, slackening, softening, spanning, spawning, spinning, spurning, staining, stationing, stiffening, stoning, straightening, straining, streamlining, strengthening, stunning, summoning, sunning, sustaining, sweetening, swooning, tanning, telephoning, thickening, thinning, threatening, tightening, toning, toughening, training, tuning, turning, twining, underlining, undermining, underpinning, unquestioning, unreasoning, vacationing, Vining, waning, warning, weakening, whining, whitening, widening, wining, winning, worsening, yawning, yearning, zoning. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-g-i-m-n-n" | |
-1 letter: enigma, gamine, naming. | |
-2 letters: amine, anime, gamin, image, inane, mange, minae. | |
-3 letters: agin, amen, amie, amin, gaen, gain, game, gane, gien, mage, magi, main, mane, mean, mien, mina, mine, name, nema, nine. | |
-4 letters: age, aim, ain, ami, ane, ani, eng, gae, gam, gan, gem, gen, gie, gin, inn, mae, mag, man, meg, men, mig. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-g-i-m-n-n" | |
+1 letter: amending, benaming, meanings, menacing, nonimage, renaming. | |
+2 letters: alignment, antheming, bedamning, bemeaning, bemoaning, dampening, demanding, demeaning, emanating, embanking, emplaning, enameling, enamoring, encamping, enflaming, enframing, examining, lamenting, maddening, magnesian, manganite, manginess, meaningly, meningeal, omnirange, remaining, remanding, remanning, signalmen, unmeaning, unseaming. | |
+3 letters: alignments, alimenting, amnestying, assignment, augmenting, emalangeni, emendating, empaneling, enamelling, enamouring, endamaging, garmenting, geminating, gemination, gentamicin, impaneling, impregnant, malignance, manganites, margenting, maundering, meandering, meaningful, melanizing, menacingly, meningioma, numerating, omniranges, signalment, smartening, winemaking. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Quotations: Familiar | 9. Quotations: Historic 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Non-fiction 12. Quotations: Spoken | 13. Quotations: Speeches 14. Usage Frequency 15. Names: Derived from 16. Expressions | 17. Expressions: Internet 18. Translations: Modern 19. Translations: Ancient 20. Bible Trace | 21. Derivations 22. Rhymes 23. Anagrams 24. Bibliography |
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