Meaning

How to spell meaning

7 letters · 2 syllables

4 of the 26 people asked to spell meaning in Spelling Garden got it wrong the first time.

How to pronounce meaning

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does meaning mean?

1. nounWhat something signifies, expresses, or is intended to convey.

Meaning in a sentence

• The meaning of the contract clause was unclear to both parties.

• She looked up the meaning of the unfamiliar word in a dictionary.

Where does meaning come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows directly from the native Old English verb 'mænan', which meant 'to intend, to have in mind, or to signify'. That verb belongs to the West Germanic family and is closely related to the Dutch 'menen' and the German 'meinen', both still carrying the idea of holding an opinion or intending something. By attaching the productive '-ing' suffix, English formed a noun describing the thing intended or signified, and this gerund form was well established by the Middle English period. Interestingly, the word is unrelated to 'mean' in the sense of 'unkind' or 'average', which arrived through quite separate channels, so the shared spelling is a coincidence of sound. Because the spelling simply joins the familiar base 'mean' to the everyday suffix '-ing', it holds few traps and has stayed remarkably stable for centuries.

How the word is built

• mean (to intend or signify)
• -ing (noun/gerund suffix)