meaning

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

meaning

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmiːnɪŋ/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈminɪŋ/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -iːnɪŋ

Etymology 1

From Middle English mening, menyng, equivalent to mean +‎ -ing. Cognate with Scots mening (“intent, purpose, sense, meaning”), West Frisian miening (“opinion, mind”), Dutch mening (“view, opinion, judgement”), German Meinung (“opinion, view, mind, idea”), Danish and Swedish mening (“meaning, sense, sentence, opinion”), Icelandic meining (“meaning”).

Noun

meaning (countable and uncountable, plural meanings)

(of words, expressions or symbols)
1. The denotation, referent, or idea connected with a word, expression, or symbol.
  - 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
    Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."
2. The connotation associated with a word, expression, or symbol.
The purpose, value, or significance (of something) beyond the fact of that thing's existence.
the meaning of life

The number of persons attending the vigil had a lot of meaning to the families.
(of a person's actions) Intention.
- c. 1610?, Walter Raleigh, A Discourse of War:
  It was their meaning to take what they needed by strong hand.
- 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House:
  […] there was nothing in the house, what there was, was broken, the last people must have lived like pigs, what could the meaning of the landlord be?

Synonyms

(denotation of words etc.): acceptation, definition, parsing, sense
(connotation of words etc.): flavor, implication, import, insinuation, tone
(purpose, significance):
(of a person's actions): goal, aim, plan, intent

Hyponyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

proposition

Derived terms

Terms derived from meaning (noun)

Translations

symbolic value of something

Albanian: kuptim (sq) m, domethënie (sq) f
Arabic: مَعْنًى (ar) m (maʕnan), الْمَعْنَى (ar) m (al-maʕnā) (definite)
Gulf Arabic: معنى m (maʕna)

Moroccan Arabic: معنى m (maʕna)

North Levantine Arabic: معنى m (maʕna)

South Levantine Arabic: معنى m (maʕna)
Armenian: իմաստ (hy) (imast)
Azerbaijani: məna (az)
Bashkir: мәғәнә (məğənə)
Belarusian: значэ́нне n (značénnje)
Bengali: অর্থ (bn) (ortho)
Bulgarian: значе́ние (bg) n (značénie)
Burmese: အဓိပ္ပါယ် (a.dhippay)
Catalan: significat (ca) m, significació f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 意義 / 意义 (zh) (yìyì), 含義 / 含义 (zh) (hányì), 意思 (zh) (yìsi), 意味 (zh) (yìwèi)
Crimean Tatar: mana
Czech: význam (cs) m
Danish: betydning (da) c, mening c
Dutch: waarde (nl) f, betekenis (nl) m
Esperanto: signifo
Estonian: tähendus (et)
Finnish: merkitys (fi)
French: signification (fr) f, sens (fr) m
Galician: significado (gl) m
Georgian: მნიშვნელობა (mnišvneloba)
German: Bedeutung (de) f
Greek: σημασία (el) f (simasía)
Gujarati: અર્થ (arth)
Hausa: ma'ana
Hawaiian: manaʻo
Hebrew: מַשְׁמָעוּת (he) f (mashma'út)
Hindi: मतलब (hi) m (matlab), अर्थ (hi) m (arth), मअनी f (maanī)
Hungarian: jelentés (hu)
Icelandic: merking f
Indonesian: arti (id), makna (id), maksud (id)
Italian: significato (it) m
Japanese: 意義 (ja) (いぎ, igi), 意味 (ja) (いみ, imi)
Kazakh: мағына (kk) (mağyna)
Khmer: សំនួន (km) (sɑmnuən)
Korean: 뜻 (ko) (tteut), 의미(意味) (ko) (uimi), 의의(意義) (ko) (uiui)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: wate (ku), mane (ku)
Kyrgyz: маани (ky) (maani)
Lao: ຄວາມຫມາຽ (khuām māi)
Latvian: jēga f, nozīme f
Limburgish: beteikenis (li) f
Lithuanian: prasmė (lt) f
Macedonian: значење n (značenje)
Malay: makna (ms), erti, maksud (ms)
Malayalam: അർത്ഥം (ml) (aṟtthaṁ), സാരം (ml) (sāraṁ)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: утга (mn) (utga)

Mongolian: ᠤᠳᠬ
ᠠ (udk a)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: mening (no) m or f, betydning (no) m or f
Old English: andgiet n
Pashto: معنى f (ma'nã), معنا f (ma'nã)
Persian: معنی (fa) (ma'ni), مطلب (fa) (matlab) (Dari)
Polish: znaczenie (pl) n
Portuguese: significado (pt) m
Romanian: semnificație (ro) f, sens (ro) n
Russian: значе́ние (ru) n (značénije)
Sanskrit: अर्थ (sa) (artha)
Scots: meanin
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: зна́че̄ње n

Roman: znáčēnje (sh) n
Slovak: význam m
Slovene: pomen (sl) m
Spanish: sentido (es) m, significado (es) m
Swahili: maana (sw)
Swedish: mening (sv) c, betydelse (sv) c
Tajik: маънӣ (tg) (maʾni), маъно (tg) (maʾno)
Tatar: мәгънә (tt) (mäğnä)
Thai: ความหมาย (th) (kwaam-mǎai)
Tocharian B: ārth
Turkish: anlam (tr), mana (tr), kasıt (tr)
Turkmen: many
Ukrainian: зна́чення (uk) n (znáčennja)
Urdu: معنی (ur) f (ma'nī), ارتھ m (arth), مطلب m (matlab)
Uyghur: مەنە (ug) (mene)
Uzbek: maʼno (uz)
Vietnamese: nghĩa (vi) (義), ý nghĩa (vi) (意義 (vi)), ý vị (vi) (意味 (vi))
Welsh: ystyr (cy) m or f
West Frisian: betsjutting (fy) c
Yiddish: טײַטש m or f (taytsh)

significance of a thing, as "the meaning of life"

Arabic: مَعْنًى (ar) m (maʕnan)
Gulf Arabic: معنى m (maʕna)
Armenian: իմաստ (hy) (imast)
Bashkir: мәғәнә (məğənə)
Belarusian: змысл m (zmysl), сэнс (be) m (sens), толк m (tolk)
Bulgarian: сми́съл (bg) m (smísǎl)
Catalan: sentit (ca) m, significat (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 意義 / 意义 (zh) (yìyì), 含義 / 含义 (zh) (hányì), 意思 (zh) (yìsi), 意味 (zh) (yìwèi), 目的 (zh) (mùdì)
Czech: smysl (cs) m
Danish: mening c
Dutch: zin (nl) m
Esperanto: signifo
Finnish: tarkoitus (fi)
French: signification (fr) f
German: Sinn (de) m
Greek: νόημα (el) n (nóima)
Hindi: अर्थ (hi) (arth), मूल्य (hi) (mūlya)
Hungarian: értelem (hu)
Italian: significato (it) m
Japanese: 意義 (ja) (いぎ, igi), 意味 (ja) (いみ, imi), 目的 (ja) (もくてき, mokuteki)
Korean: 의미(意味) (ko) (uimi), 의의(意義) (ko) (uiui), 목적(目的) (ko) (mokjeok)
Latvian: jēga f
Macedonian: смисла f (smisla), смисол m (smisol)
Malayalam: അർത്ഥം (ml) (aṟtthaṁ), സാരം (ml) (sāraṁ)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: утга (mn) (utga)

Mongolian: ᠤᠳᠬ
ᠠ (udk a)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: mening (no) m or f
Persian: معنی (fa) (ma'ni)
Polish: sens (pl) m
Portuguese: significado (pt) m, sentido (pt) m
Russian: смысл (ru) m (smysl), значе́ние (ru) n (značénije), толк (ru) m (tolk)
Scots: meanin
Scottish Gaelic: seagh m, brìgh f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: сми̑сао m

Roman: smȋsao (sh) m
Slovak: zmysel m
Slovene: smisel (sl) m
Spanish: sentido (es) m
Swahili: maana (sw)
Swedish: mening (sv) c
Thai: ความหมาย (th) (kwaam-mǎai)
Turkish: anlam (tr)
Ukrainian: сенс (uk) m (sens), зна́чення (uk) n (znáčennja), смисл m (smysl)
Vietnamese: nghĩa (vi) (義), ý nghĩa (vi) (意義 (vi)), ý vị (vi) (意味 (vi))
Welsh: ystyr (cy) m or f

definition or connotation of a word

Arabic: مَعْنًى (ar) m (maʕnan)
Gulf Arabic: معنى m (maʕna)
Armenian: իմաստ (hy) (imast)
Bashkir: мәғәнә (məğənə)
Belarusian: значэ́нне n (značénnje), сэнс (be) m (sens), змысл m (zmysl)
Bole: mana
Breton: ster (br) m
Bulgarian: значе́ние (bg) n (značénie)
Catalan: significat (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 意思 (ji³ si¹)

Mandarin: 意思 (zh) (yìsi), 意味 (zh) (yìwèi)
Czech: význam (cs) m, smysl (cs) m
Danish: betydning (da) c
Dutch: betekenis (nl) m
Esperanto: senco (eo)
Finnish: merkitys (fi)
French: sens (fr) m
German: Bedeutung (de) f
Greek: σημασία (el) f (simasía), έννοια (el) f (énnoia)
Gujarati: અર્થ (arth)
Hausa: ma'ana
Hindi: मतलब (hi) m (matlab), अर्थ (hi) (arth)
Hungarian: jelentés (hu)
Icelandic: meining f, merking
Italian: significato (it) m
Japanese: 意味 (ja) (いみ, imi)
Kapampangan: kabaldugan
Korean: 뜻 (ko) (tteut), 의미(意味) (ko) (uimi)
Latvian: nozīme f
Lithuanian: reikšmė (lt) f
Macedonian: значење n (značenje), смисла f (smisla), смисол m (smisol)
Malay: maksud (ms)
Malayalam: അർത്ഥം (ml) (aṟtthaṁ)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: утга (mn) (utga)

Mongolian: ᠤᠳᠬ
ᠠ (udk a)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: betydning (no) m or f, tyding m or f
Old English: ġetācnung f, andġiet n
Persian: معنی (fa) (ma'ni), مطلب (fa) (matlab) (Dari)
Polish: znaczenie (pl) n, sens (pl) m
Portuguese: significado (pt) m
Russian: значе́ние (ru) n (značénije), толкова́ние (ru) n (tolkovánije), смысл (ru) m (smysl)
Scots: meanin
Scottish Gaelic: ciallachadh m, seagh m, brìgh f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: зна́че̄ње n

Roman: znáčēnje (sh) n
Slovak: význam m, zmysel m
Slovene: pomen (sl) m, smisel (sl) m
Spanish: significado (es) m, acepción (es) f, sentido de la palabra m
Swahili: maana (sw)
Swedish: betydelse (sv) c
Thai: ความหมาย (th) (kwaam-mǎai), คำแปล (th) (kam-bplɛɛ)
Ukrainian: зна́чення (uk) n (znáčennja), сенс (uk) m (sens), смисл m (smysl)
Urdu: مطلب m (matlab)
Vietnamese: nghĩa (vi) (義), ý nghĩa (vi) (意義 (vi))
Welsh: ystyr (cy) m or f
Yiddish: טײַטש m or f (taytsh)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Friulian: ^{(please verify)} significât m
Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} meining f
Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} arti (id)
Italian: ^{(please verify)} significato (it) m
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} مەعنا (me'na), ^{(please verify)} مەبەس (mebes)
Romanian: ^{(please verify)} înțeles (ro) n, ^{(please verify)} sens (ro) n, ^{(please verify)} semnificație (ro) f
Telugu: ^{(please verify)} అర్థం (te) (arthaṁ)

Etymology 2

From mean +‎ -ing.

Verb