Etymograph

English

mean

Mean comes from Old English mǣnan ‘to mean; to say, relate’, from Proto-Germanic *mainijaną ‘to mean, think’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meyn- ‘to think’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyn-1‘to think’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mainijaną1‘to mean, think’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mainijan2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mǣnan1‘to mean; to say, relate’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500menen1‘to intend’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588mean1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English mean
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English mænan
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Doo not my captaines and my ſouldiers looke As…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyn-Wiktionary, English mean‘to think’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mainijanąWiktionary, English mean‘to mean, think’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mainijanWiktionary, Old English mænanreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mǣnanWiktionary, English mean‘to mean; to say, relate’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500menenWiktionary, English mean‘to intend’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588meanWiktionary, English mean. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Doo not my captaines and my ſouldiers looke As…”

The story

From Middle English menen (‘to intend; remember; lament; comfort’), from Old English mǣnan (‘to mean, complain’), Proto-West Germanic *mainijan, from Proto-Germanic *mainijaną (‘to mean, think; complain’), from Proto-Indo-European *meyn- (‘to think’), or perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *meyno-, extended form of Proto-Indo-European *mey-. Germanic cognates include West Frisian miene (‘to deem, think’) (Old Frisian mēna (‘to signify’)), Dutch menen (‘to believe, think, mean’) (Middle Dutch menen (‘to think, intend’)), German meinen (‘to think, mean, believe’), Old Saxon mēnian. Indo-European cognates include Old Irish mían (‘wish, desire’) and Polish mienić (‘to signify, believe’). Non-Indo-European cognates include Finnish mainita (‘to mention’), Finnish meinata (‘to mean, to plan, to intend’) Estonian mainima (‘to mention’), Northern Sami máinnastit (‘to tell’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with mean, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to attach, bind, strengthen’

  • community ← communite ← communité ← commūnitās ← commūnis
  • common ← comun ← comun ← commūnis ← comoinis
  • minister ← ministre ← ministre ← minor ← *minōs
  • minute ← mynute ← minūtus ← minuō ← *minuō
  • commission ← commissioun ← commissiō ← committō ← mittō
  • communication ← comunicacioun ← communicacion ← commūnicātiōnem ← commūnicātiō
  • ministry ← mynisterie ← menistere ← ministerium ← minister
  • minor ← *minōs ← *minuō ← *minéwti
  • met ← meten ← mætan ← *maitijan ← *maitaną
  • min ← *minni ← *minniz
  • commit ← committen ← committō ← mittō ← mītō
  • communist ← communiste ← commun ← comun ← commūnis

106 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of mean

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-‘to change, exchange, share’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gamainiz‘common’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gamainī‘common’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mǣne‘common, public, general, universal’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mene
  6. Englishtodaymean

For a similar change in definition, see vulgar.

Another origin of mean

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*me‘near, by, with’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*médʰyos‘between’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*meðios‘middle’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmedius‘middle, mid, central, between, midway between, in the center’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmediānus‘middle, central’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400moienas meien‘middle’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500meene
  8. Englishtodaymean

For the musical sense, compare the cognate Italian mezzano.

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Today it means

verb To intend, to plan (to do); to have as one's intention.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mean”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English mænan. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *meyn- / mean