mean 
mean 3 (men), a. and n. [< ME. meene, mene, < 
OF. meien, moien, F. moyen = Pr. meian = Sp. 
Pg. mediano = T.t. mezzano, mean, < L. medianus, 
that is in the middle, middle, < niedius, middle : 
see medium and mid 1 . Cf . median and mizzen, 
doublets of mean 3 .] I. n. 1. Occupying a mid- 
dle position ; midway "between two extremes ; 
median: now chiefly in certain technical uses. 
See phrases below. 
Ther ben none other mene weyes newe. 
Chaucer, Anelida and Arcite, 1. 286. 
2. Of medium size, extent, etc. ; medium, mid- 
dling, or moderate. 
In their eares [the women] weare eare-rings of the forme 
and bignesse of a meane Candle. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 887. 
These fan ties are of a meane price, For a man may buy 
one of the fairest of them for so much money as counter- 
vailed our English groate. Coryat, Crudities, I. 135. 
The first tidings of Vicary (who was probably born be- 
tween 1490 and 1500) are, that he was "a meane practiser 
(had a moderate practise) at Maidstone," and was not a 
trained Surgeon. Quoted in N. and Q., 7th sen, VI. 42. 
3. Comingbetween two events or points of time; 
intervening; intermediate: only in the phrase 
in the mean time or while. 
In the meene while lete vs geder ourekyn and cure frendes 
and sowderes out of alle londes, and lete vs yeve hem ba- 
teile as soone as we may be assembled. 
Merlin (E. E. T. 8.), ii. 174. 
In themean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Mas- 
ter, eat. John iv. 31. 
4. Intermediate in a number of greater and less 
values, quantities, or amounts ; forming an aver- 
age between two or more terms of any kind; 
average; specifically, in math., having a value 
which is a symmetrical function of other values 
of the same sort, such that, were all those other 
values to be equal, the value of the function 
would be equal to them all (compare II., 4): 
as, the mean breadth of a country; the mean 
distance of the earth from the sun. 
Those constitutions which can bear in open day the 
rough dealing of the world must be of that mean and aver- 
age structure such as iron and salt, atmospheric air and 
water. Emerson, Society and Solitude. 
Center of mean distances. See centeri. FOCUS of 
mean motion. See/ocMs. Mean anomaly. See anom- 
aly, 2. Mean apogee. See apogee, i. Mean clef, in 
musical notation, the C clef, because once specially used for 
the mean or middle voices. Mean distance, ecliptic, 
effort. See the nouns. Mean error. See error, 5. 
Mean line, in crystal., a bisectrix : the first mean line is 
the acute, the second mean line the obtuse bisectrix. 
Mean longitude of the sun, moon, or a planet, inastron., 
the celestial longitude which the body would have at any 
moment if, starting from perihelion, it moved in its orbit 
with a uniform angular velocity, completing its revolution 
in the same time it actually employs in making the circuit. 
The mean and true longitudes agree therefore at perihe- 
lion and aphelion. Mean moon, an imaginary moon, sup- 
posed to move with an equable motion in the ecliptic, and 
in the same period as that which the real moon takes to 
perform a revolution with an unequable motion. Mean 
noon, the moment when the mean sun passes the meridi- 
an. Mean place, in logic, a place which partly agrees 
with the nature of the things to be proved, and partly dif- 
fers from the same. The mean places are conjugates, cases, 
and divisions. Mean position, in fencing, a position of 
the wrist midway between pronation and supination, with 
the thumb above the fingers. Rolando (ed. Forsyth). 
Mean proportional, the second of any three quantities 
in continued proportion. Mean solar day. See dayl, 3. 
Mean spacet, meanwhile. 
Mean space entreate our freinds not to be too bussie in 
answering matters, before they know them. 
Cushman, quoted in Bradford's Plymouth Plantation, p. 55. 
Mean sun, in astron., an imaginary or fictitious sun, mov- 
ing uniformly in the celestial equator, and having its right 
ascension always equal to the sun's mean longitude. Its 
hour-angle at any moment defines the mean time or clock- 
time, just as the hour-angle of the actual sun defines the 
apparent or sun-dial time. The use of the mean sun in tune- 
reckoning is necessitated by the fact that, owing to the ec- 
centricity of the earth's orbit and the inclination of the 
equator to the ecliptic, the sun's real motion in right as- 
cension is seriously variable, and the days, hours, etc., of 
apparent solar time have, therefore, no fixed length. See 
dffli/1,3. Mean term, in logic, same as middfe term (which 
see, under middle). Mean time, a system of reckoning 
time, such that all the days and their like subdivisions are 
of equal length, its day being the mean interval between 
the two successive passages of the sun over the meridian of 
anyplace. The mean time at any moment may be defined as 
the hour-angle of the mean sun at that moment. (See mean 
sun.) Mean time is the time usually employed for civil 
and scientific purposes, and is the time indicated by an or- 
dinary clock or watch, properly regulated. Apparent time 
is that indicated by a correctly adjusted sun-dial ; the dif- 
ference between the mean and the apparent time at any mo- 
ment is called the equation of time, and sometimes slightly 
exceeds a quarter of an hour. Mean voice, in music, a 
voice or voice-part intermediate between the highest and 
the lowest, as a tenor or an alto. Mean wayt, mean- 
time. 
In the meane way they [Lerius and his fellows] passed 
by the Tapemiry Paraibse, Ouetacates, all which, howso- 
euer they exercise hostilities and mutual! disagreements, 
yet agree in like barbarous and rightlesse Rites. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 837. 
To cut a line in extreme and mean ratio. See ex- 
lreme.=Syn. See II. 
3674 
II. n. 1. The middle point, place, or state be- 
tween two extremes ; a middle path or course ; 
a middle or intermediate kind, quality, rate, or 
degree ; hence, the avoidance of extremes ; ab- 
sence of excess; moderation. 
Ocupye the meene by stydefast strengthes, lor al that 
ever is undir the meene or elles al that overpassith the 
meene despisith welefulnesse. 
Chaucer, Boethius, iv. prose 7. 
There is no mean; either we depart from God and stick 
to the devil, or depart from the devil and stick to God. 
J. Bradford, Letters (Parker Soc., 1853), II. 52. 
"I'is a sin against 
The state of princes to exceed a mean 
In mourning for the dead. 
Ford, Love's Sacrifice, i. 1. 
We shall hold the immutable mean that lies between 
insensibility and anguish. 
Goldsmith, Citizen of the World, vii. 
The happy mean between these two extremes. 
Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vii. 
2f. Intervening time ; interval of time ; interim; 
meantime. 
Reserve her cause to her eternall doome ; 
And, in the meane, vouchsafe her honorable toombe. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. i. 58. 
3. In music: (a) A middle voice or voice-part, 
as the tenor or alto. 
Thi orgauys so hihe begynne to syng ther mess, 
With treble meene and tenor discordyng as I gesse. 
Lydgate, Minor Poems, p. 54. (Halliwell.) 
Your change of notes, the flat, the mean, the sharp. 
B. Jonson, Underwoods, xcviii. 
(6) The second of a set of viols; an alto. 
Their chiefe instruments are Rattles made of small 
gourds, or Punipeons shels. Of these they haue Base, 
Tenor, Countertenor, Meane. and Treble. 
Capt. John Smith, Works, I. 136. 
(c) Either the second or the third string of a 
viol, the former being the small mean, and the 
latter the great mean. 4. A quantity having a 
value intermediate between the values of other 
quantities; specifically, in math., the average, 
or arithmetical mean, obtained by adding sever- 
al quantities together and dividing the sum by 
their number. In general a mean is a quantity which 
depends upon certain other quantities according to any 
law which conforms to these two conditions : first, that, 
if the quantities which determine the mean should all be 
equal, the mean would be equal to any one of them ; and 
second, that no transposition of the values of the deter- 
mining quantities among themselves can alter the value of 
the mean. (See geometrical mean, below.) The ancients 
recognized ten kinds of mean (^eo-dr^, medietas), distin- 
guished by ordinal numbers, to which Jordanus Nemora 
rius added an eleventh. Only the first four, the arithmeti- 
cal, geometrical, harmonica!, and contraharmonical, are 
true means. 
5. In logic, the middle term in a syllogism. - 
6f. A mediator; an intermediary; an agent; a 
broker; a go-between. 
Thogh that our hertes stierne ben and stoute, 
Thow to thy Sone canst be swich a mene 
That alle our giltes he forgiveth dene. 
Chaucer, Mother of God, 1. 83. 
For the am I becomen 
Bytwyxen game and ernest, swich a meene 
As maken wommen unto men to comen. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iii. 254. 
7. A subservient agency or instrumentality; 
that which confers ability or opportunity to 
attain an end: now rare in the singular, the 
plural form being used with both singular and 
plural meanings : as, means of travel or of sub- 
sistence ; by this means you will succeed. 
Be that meane the cite for to Wynne. 
Oenerydes(E. E. T. S.), 1. 952. 
Let me have open means to come to them. 
SAa*.,Rich. IIL.iv. 2. 77. 
An outward and visible sign [a sacrament] of an inward 
and spiritual grace given unto us ; ordained ... as a 
means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure 
us thereof. Book of Common Prayer, Catechism. 
What person trusted chiefly with your guard, 
You think is aptest for me to corrupt 
In making him a mean for our safe meeting. 
Chapman, Gentleman Usher, ii. 1. 
The end must justify the means. Prior, Hans Carvel. 
8. Causative agency or instrumentality ; con- 
tributory aid or assistance ; help ; support : 
only in the plural form, in the phrase by means 
of, or by (or through) . . . means : as, we live 
by means of food ; it came about throitf/h their 
means. 
That by means of death . . . they which are called 
might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 
Heb. ix. 15. 
Our brother is imprison'd by your means. 
SAa*.,Rich. III., i. 3. 78. 
Specifically 9. pi. Disposable resources; ele- 
ments of ability or opportunity; especially, 
pecuniary resources; possessio'ns; revenue; 
income. 
meander 
The widow and the fatherlesse 
He would send meanes unto. 
True Tale of Robin Hood (Child's Ballads, V. 357). 
He has never sullied his honour, which, with his title, 
has outlived his means. Sheridan, The Duenna, ii. 3. 
Arithmetical mean. See def. 4. Arithmetleo-geo- 
metrical mean. See arithmetico-i/eometrical.Zy all 
means, certainly ; on every consideration ; without fail : 
as, go, by all means. 
Yes, yes, the epigram, by all means. 
Sheridan, School for Scandal, ii. 2. 
By any means, (at) By all means. 
Tell her 
She must by any means address some present 
To the cunning man. B. Jonson, Alchemist, v. 2. 
(6) In any way ; possibly ; at all. 
I have always defended you, and said I didn't think you 
so ugly by any means. Sheridan, School for Scandal, iii. 1. 
By no manner of means, in no possible way ; not in the 
least. By no means, not at all; certainly not; not in 
any degree. Center of the harmonic mean. See har- 
monic. Contraharmonical mean and proportion. 
See contraharmonical. Geometrical mean, the mean 
obtained by multiplying two quantities together and ex- 
tracting the square root of the product. In general, the 
geometrical mean of n quantities is the nth root of their 
product. Golden mean, in morals, moderation ; the 
avoidance of extremes in either of two contrary ways. 
Harmonic mean. See harmonic. Means of grace. 
See grace. Quadratic mean, the square root of the 
arithmetical mean of the squares of the given quantities. 
To make meanst, to take steps ; find one's way. 
We hauing made meanes for our speedie flight, as we 
were issuing foorth we were bewrayed by ye barking of a 
dog. Webbe, Travels, p. 28 (ed. Arber). 
After she had been in prison three or four days, she 
made means to the governour, and submitted herself, and 
acknowledged her fault in disturbing the church. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 339. 
= Syn. 1. Mean, Medium, Average, Mediocrity. Mean and 
medium represent the middle point or degree. Mean 
is much used in mathematics. (See arithmetical mean, 
geometrical mean, etc., above.) Mean is also much used 
in morals : as, in conduct we are to observe the golden 
mean; Aristotle held that each virtue was a mean be- 
tween vice of defect and a vice of excess. Medium has 
this latter sense, but is used chiefly in matters of practi- 
cal life : as, goods that are a medium between the best 
and the poorest ; a color that is a medium between two 
others. In this sense medium is much used as an adjec- 
tive : as, a medium grade, color, price. Means is the form 
of mean that corresponds to medium when it stands for 
that which, by being between others, is the agency for 
communication, etc. As mean and medium generally im- 
ply simply two extremes, but may imply several quanti- 
ties of different amounts or degrees, so average may imply 
simply two extremes, but generally implies several quan- 
tities of different amounts or degrees : as, the average of 
3, 5, 7, and 9 is 6. The latter word has similar figurative 
uses : as, the man's education was better than the average. 
Mediocrity is now used only in an unfavorable sense, imply- 
ing blame or contempt : as, talents not above mediocrity 
that is, very moderate. 7. Instrument, method, mode, 
way, expedient, resource, appliance. 
mean 4 t (men), v. [< ME. menen, < AS. mwnan, 
lament, moan: see moan, the present E. form. 
The AS. is often identified with mcenan, mean, 
but the difference of meaning makes it neces- 
sary to treat it as a distinct word.] I. intrans. 
To moan; lament; mourn; complain. 
Dem. And thus she meanes, videlicit : 
This. Asleepe, my Loue? What, dead, my Doue? 
O Piramus, arise ! Shot., M. N'. D., v. 1. 330 (folio 1623) 
II. trans. To bemoan ; lament : used reflex - 
ively. 
Whanne i hade al me mened no more nold he seie 
But " serteinly, swete damisele, that me sore rewes." 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 561. 
meant (men), v. t. [An aphetic form of de- 
mean 1 .'] To demean; carry; conduct. 
As good a gentleman born as thou art : nay, and better 
meaned. Marston, Jonson, and Chapman, Eastward Ho, i. 1. 
Oh, wives, hereafter, mean your hearts to them 
You give your holy vows. 
Shirley, Love's Cruelty, v. 2. 
meander (me-an'der), n. [Formerly also ma;- 
ander; = F. meandre = Sp. Pg. It. meandro, (. 
L. maunder, < Gr. fiaiavdpoi; , a winding stream 
or canal, any winding pattern, so called from 
the river Meander, L. Maiander, Mceandrvs, 
M(eandros, < Gr. Maiavdpof, a river, now called 
Mendere, which flows with many windings into 
the JEgean Sea near Miletus.] 1. A winding 
course ; a winding or turning in a passage ; a 
maze ; a labyrinth. 
Here's a maze trod, indeed, 
Through forth-rights and meanders! 
Shalt., Tempest, iii. 3. 3. 
There is another way, full of meanders and labyrinths. 
Sir T. Browne, Religio Medici, i. 17. 
In the garden . . . are many stately fountains, . . . 
walks, terraces, meanders, fruit-trees, and a most goodly 
prospect. 
2. An ornament 
composed of 
lines, neither 
representing 
nor suggesting 
any definite ob- 
Evelyn, Diary, Jan. 18, 1645. 
