Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Mean \Mean\, a. [Compar. {Meaner}; superl. {Meanest}.] [OE.
   mene, AS. m?ne wicked; akin to m[=a]n, a., wicked, n.,
   wickedness, OS. m?n wickedness, OHG. mein, G. meineid
   perjury, Icel. mein harm, hurt, and perh. to AS. gem?ne
   common, general, D. gemeen, G. gemein, Goth. gam['a]ins, and
   L. communis. The AS. gem?ne prob. influenced the meaning.]
   1. Destitute of distinction or eminence; common; low; vulgar;
      humble. ``Of mean parentage.'' --Sir P. Sidney.

            The mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth
            himself.                              --Is. ii. 9.

   2. Wanting dignity of mind; low-minded; base; destitute of
      honor; spiritless; as, a mean motive.

            Can you imagine I so mean could prove, To save my
            life by changing of my love ?         --Dryden.

   3. Of little value or account; worthy of little or no regard;
      contemptible; despicable.

            The Roman legions and great C[ae]sar found Our
            fathers no mean foes.                 --J. Philips.

   4. Of poor quality; as, mean fare.

   5. Penurious; stingy; close-fisted; illiberal; as, mean
      hospitality.

   Note: Mean is sometimes used in the formation of compounds,
         the sense of which is obvious without explanation; as,
         meanborn, mean-looking, etc.

   Syn: Base; ignoble; abject; beggarly; wretched; degraded;
        degenerate; vulgar; vile; servile; menial; spiritless;
        groveling; slavish; dishonorable; disgraceful; shameful;
        despicable; contemptible; paltry; sordid. See {Base}.

Mean \Mean\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Meant}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Meaning}.] [OE. menen, AS. m[=ae]nan to recite, tell,
   intend, wish; akin to OS. m[=e]nian to have in mind, mean, D.
   meenen, G. meinen, OHG. meinan, Icel. meina, Sw. mena, Dan.
   mene, and to E. mind. ?. See {Mind}, and cf. {Moan}.]
   1. To have in the mind, as a purpose, intention, etc.; to
      intend; to purpose; to design; as, what do you mean to do
      ?

            What mean ye by this service ?        --Ex. xii. 26.

            Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto
            good.                                 --Gen. 1. 20.

            I am not a Spaniard To say that it is yours and not
            to mean it.                           --Longfellow.

   2. To signify; to indicate; to import; to denote.

            What mean these seven ewe lambs ?     --Gen. xxi.
                                                  29.

            Go ye, and learn what that me?neth.   --Matt. ix.
                                                  13.

Mean \Mean\, v. i.
   To have a purpose or intention. [Rare, except in the phrase
   to mean well, or ill.] --Shak.

Mean \Mean\, a. [OE. mene, OF. meiien, F. moyen, fr. L. medianus
   that is in the middle, fr. medius; akin to E. mid. See
   {Mid}.]
   1. Occupying a middle position; middle; being about midway
      between extremes.

            Being of middle age and a mean stature. --Sir. P.
                                                  Sidney.

   2. Intermediate in excellence of any kind.

            According to the fittest style of lofty, mean, or
            lowly.                                --Milton.

   3. (Math.) Average; having an intermediate value between two
      extremes, or between the several successive values of a
      variable quantity during one cycle of variation; as, mean
      distance; mean motion; mean solar day.

   {Mean distance} (of a planet from the sun) (Astron.), the
      average of the distances throughout one revolution of the
      planet, equivalent to the semi-major axis of the orbit.

   {Mean error} (Math. Phys.), the average error of a number of
      observations found by taking the mean value of the
      positive and negative errors without regard to sign.

   {Mean-square error}, or {Error of the mean square} (Math.
      Phys.), the error the square of which is the mean of the
      squares of all the errors; -- called also, especially by
      European writers, {mean error}.

   {Mean line}. (Crystallog.) Same as {Bisectrix}.

   {Mean noon}, noon as determined by mean time.

   {Mean proportional} (between two numbers) (Math.), the square
      root of their product.

   {Mean sun}, a fictitious sun supposed to move uniformly in
      the equator so as to be on the meridian each day at mean
      noon.

   {Mean time}, time as measured by an equable motion, as of a
      perfect clock, or as reckoned on the supposition that all
      the days of the year are of a mean or uniform length, in
      contradistinction from apparent time, or that actually
      indicated by the sun, and from sidereal time, or that
      measured by the stars.

Mean \Mean\, n.
   1. That which is mean, or intermediate, between two extremes
      of place, time, or number; the middle point or place;
      middle rate or degree; mediocrity; medium; absence of
      extremes or excess; moderation; measure.

            But to speak in a mean, the virtue of prosperity is
            temperance; the virtue of adversity is fortitude.
                                                  --Bacon.

            There is a mean in all things.        --Dryden.

            The extremes we have mentioned, between which the
            wellinstracted Christian holds the mean, are
            correlatives.                         --I. Taylor.

   2. (Math.) A quantity having an intermediate value between
      several others, from which it is derived, and of which it
      expresses the resultant value; usually, unless otherwise
      specified, it is the simple average, formed by adding the
      quantities together and dividing by their number, which is
      called an arithmetical mean. A geometrical mean is the
      square root of the product of the quantities.

   3. That through which, or by the help of which, an end is
      attained; something tending to an object desired;
      intermediate agency or measure; necessary condition or
      coagent; instrument.

            Their virtuous conversation was a mean to work the
            conversion of the heathen to Christ.  --Hooker.

            You may be able, by this mean, to review your own
            scientific acquirements.              --Coleridge.

            Philosophical doubt is not an end, but a mean. --Sir
                                                  W. Hamilton.

   Note: In this sense the word is usually employed in the
         plural form means, and often with a singular attribute
         or predicate, as if a singular noun.

               By this means he had them more at vantage.
                                                  --Bacon.

               What other means is left unto us.  --Shak.

   4. pl. Hence: Resources; property, revenue, or the like,
      considered as the condition of easy livelihood, or an
      instrumentality at command for effecting any purpose;
      disposable force or substance.

            Your means are very slender, and your waste is
            great.                                --Shak.

   5. (Mus.) A part, whether alto or tenor, intermediate between
      the soprano and base; a middle part. [Obs.]

            The mean is drowned with your unruly base. --Shak.

   6. Meantime; meanwhile. [Obs.] --Spenser.

   7. A mediator; a go-between. [Obs.] --Piers Plowman.

            He wooeth her by means and by brokage. --Chaucer.

   {By all means}, certainly; without fail; as, go, by all
      means.

   {By any means}, in any way; possibly; at all.

            If by any means I might attain to the resurrection
            of the dead.                          --Phil. iii.
                                                  ll.
      

   {By no means}, or {By no manner of means}, not at all;
      certainly not; not in any degree.

            The wine on this side of the lake is by no means so
            good as that on the other.            --Addison.

Source : WordNet®

mean
     adj 1: approximating the statistical norm or average or expected
            value; "the average income in New England is below
            that of the nation"; "of average height for his age";
            "the mean annual rainfall" [syn: {average}, {mean(a)}]
     2: characterized by malice; "a hateful thing to do"; "in a mean
        mood" [syn: {hateful}]
     3: having or showing an ignoble lack of honor or morality;
        "that liberal obedience without which your army would be a
        base rabble"- Edmund Burke; "taking a mean advantage";
        "chok'd with ambition of the meaner sort"- Shakespeare;
        "something essentially vulgar and meanspirited in
        politics" [syn: {base}, {meanspirited}]
     4: excellent; "famous for a mean backhand"
     5: marked by poverty befitting a beggar; "a beggarly existence
        in the slums"; "a mean hut" [syn: {beggarly}]
     6: used of persons or behavior; characterized by or indicative
        of lack of generosity; "a mean person"; "he left a miserly
        tip" [syn: {mingy}, {miserly}, {tight}]
     7: used of sums of money; so small in amount as to deserve
        contempt [syn: {beggarly}]
     [also: {meant}]

mean
     n : an average of n numbers computed by adding some function of
         the numbers and dividing by some function of n [syn: {mean
         value}]
     [also: {meant}]

mean
     v 1: mean or intend to express or convey; "You never understand
          what I mean!"; "what do his words intend?" [syn: {intend}]
     2: have as a logical consequence; "The water shortage means
        that we have to stop taking long showers" [syn: {entail},
        {imply}]
     3: denote or connote; "`maison' means `house' in French"; "An
        example sentence would show what this word means" [syn: {intend},
         {signify}, {stand for}]
     4: have in mind as a purpose; "I mean no harm"; "I only meant
        to help you"; "She didn't think to harm me"; "We thought
        to return early that night" [syn: {intend}, {think}]
     5: have a specified degree of importance; "My ex-husband means
        nothing to me"; "Happiness means everything"
     6: intend to refer to; "I'm thinking of good food when I talk
        about France"; "Yes, I meant you when I complained about
        people who gossip!" [syn: {think of}, {have in mind}]
     7: destine or designate for a certain purpose; "These flowers
        were meant for you"
     [also: {meant}]