Link Centre Dictionary

meaning

mea·ning

UK/ˈmiː.nɪŋ/ US/ˈmi.nɪŋ/ common
noun (2) adjective (1)

noun

1.

the message that is intended or expressed or signified

  • “what is the meaning of this sentence”
  • “the significance of a red traffic light”
  • “the signification of Chinese characters”
  • “the import of his announcement was ambigtuous”
Synonyms
2.

the idea that is intended

  • “What is the meaning of this proverb?”
Synonyms

adjective

1.

rich in significance or implication

  • “a meaning look”
  • “pregnant with meaning”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • double meaning
  • get the meaning
  • loan meaning
  • meaning of life
  • meaning-text model
  • meaning-text theory
  • plain meaning rule
  • self-referential meaning

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.