As a verb, to mean is to intend or to signify something. As an adjective, mean can describe someone who is unkind or something that is small or poor in quality. As a noun in math, the mean is the average value of a set of numbers.
The 'intend/signify' verb comes from Old English “mǣnan” meaning 'to intend, to signify'. The 'unkind' adjective comes from a different Old English root meaning 'inferior or common', which later shifted to moral judgment. The mathematical 'mean' comes from Latin “medianus” and Old French “meien” meaning 'middle'.
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