Means
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 plural of mean form-of, plural
- 2 An instrument or condition to achieve a result.
"She treated him as a means to an end."
- 3 Financial resources; wealth. plural, plural-only, uncountable
"a person of means; independent means"
- 4 to have the ability to produce a particular effect or achieve an end wordnet
- 5 Financial resources; wealth.; Substantial wealth. plural, plural-only, uncountable
"She is a woman of means."
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- 6 an artifact (that is instrumental in accomplishing some end) for accomplishing some end wordnet
- 7 considerable capital (wealth or income) wordnet
- 1 third-person singular simple present indicative of mean form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person
- 1 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 2 An unincorporated community in Menifee County, Kentucky, United States. countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"Being objective means not telling everybody whose side you are on."
Etymology
From mean (“method or course of action used to achieve some result”). Compare French moyens, German Mittel.
Various origins: * Reduced form of McMeans, a surname of Irish origin. * Habitational surname from the villages of East and West Meon, in Hampshire. * A nickname from Middle English mene (“inferior in rank”), which is from Old English ġemǣne (“common, general”), or Middle English mene (“moderate in behaviour”), which is from Old French mëen, mean.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.