Meant

How to spell meant

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce meant

What does meant mean?

1. verbPast tense of mean: to have intended something, or to have had a particular signification.

Meant in a sentence

• She meant to call the bank before the office closed.

• The warning sign meant that the bridge was unsafe.

Where does meant come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the past tense and past participle of the verb 'mean', which comes from the Old English mǽnan, meaning 'to intend' or 'to signify'. That verb traces back to a Germanic root shared with the Dutch meenen and the German meinen, both still carrying the sense of having something in mind. English never gave 'mean' a regular '-ed' past; instead it kept an older pattern in which the vowel shortened and a 't' was added, giving 'meant' rather than 'meaned'. The spelling is the chief trap here: the 'ea' is held over from the present tense even though the word now rhymes with 'sent', so writers who spell by sound are tempted to drop the silent 'a'. The same 'ea' that sounds long in 'mean' simply went quiet when the vowel shortened in 'meant'.

How the word is built

• mean (from Old English mǽnan: to intend, signify)
• irregular past form ending -t