mean (1), mene (1)

[A. S. mæne wicked; allied to mán=iniquity; Dut. gemeen = common, vulgar, mean; Icel. meinn bad, mean; mein a hurt, harm; Dan. meen; Sw. men = hurt, injury; M. H. Ger. mein =false, a falsehood.] 1. Common, low, vulgar; low in rank or dignity; inferior, insignificant, humble. "Meaner things, whom instinct leads, Cowper: Doves. IMG:content-1019.png:[blocks in formation] (3) [HARMONICAL-MEAN.] *2. Music : A term applied to the intermediate voice or part; the tenor or alto. (1) By all means : Certainly, undoubtedly; without fail or hesitation. (2) By any means : In any way; by any plan; pos sibly; at all. (3) By means of : By or through the agency or instrumentality of. (4) By no manner of means : By no means; not the least. (5) By no means: On no account; not at all; not in any degree. † mean-clef, s. IMG:content-1020.png:[blocks in formation] mean-moon, s. out. IMG:content-1021.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-1022.png:[blocks in formation] Take of the crimson stream meandering there, And catechise it well." Cowper : Task , iii. 202. *mě ăn-dered, *mě-ăn-dred (dred as děrd), [Eng. meander; ed.] Formed or moving in "Of whose me and red ways IMG:content-1023.png:[blocks in formation] mean-Ing-le -ne , s . [English meaningle ; -ne . The quality or state of being meaningle , or without an object. mean-Ing-ly, adv . [Eng. meaning; -ly. In a significantly. meaning manner; with meaning or significance; Significance. mean-le , a. [Eng. mean, v.; -le .] Meaning- "To viewle harpings weave the mean le dance." Poetry of the Anti -Jacobin , p. 126. mean lỹ, *meane-liche, *mene-liche, mæne- like, a . & adv . [Eng. mean ; -ly .] 2. Without dignity or rank: humbly, lowlily. "His daughter have I meanly matched in marriage." Shakesp: Richard III ., iv. 3. 3. Poorly, shabbily. All meanly wrapped, in the rude manger lies." Milton: Ode on the Nativity. 4. Without dignity or greatne of mind; without honor or principle; disparagingly; as, He acted very meanly. 5. In a sordid or niggardly manner; sordidly. 6. Without respect; disrespectfully; as, to speak meanly of a person. IMG:content-1024.png:[blocks in formation] much in the same world, as where to lay his head, by reason of the meanne of his condition." -South : Ser- mons, vol. iv., ser. 10. 2. Want of dignity or elevation of mind; want of high spirit; lowne or dishonorablene of mind. "That meanne which marked them out as fit imple- ments of tryanny." -Macaulay: Hist. Eng ., ch. iv. 3. Mean, low, or dishonorable thoughts or actions. "Lives there a man so dead to fame, who dares To think such meanne , or the thought declares?" Pope : Homer's Iliad, xiv. 103. 4. Want of excellence of any kind; poorne , in- feriority. "This figure is of a later date, by the meanne of the workmanship."- Add is on : On Italy. *mēan-õr, s . [DEMEANOR.] Behavior, demeanor. "As if his mean or were not a little culpable." meanş, s. pl . [MEAN, S., I. 4, 5. ] meant, pret . & pa . par . of v . [MEAN, v.] mean-time, adv. & s. [Eng. mean (2), a., and time .] B. As subst.: An intervening time, an interval. "The Lords had, in the meantime, discu ed several important questions."- Macaulay : Hist . Eng ., ch. iv. mean-while, adv . & s. [Eng. mean (2), a., and while .] A. As adv.: In the interval; in the meantime; meantime. the genus Me and rin a in its characteristic growth. "By this serial growth the corallum becomes gyrate or me and rine." - Encyc. Brit . (ed. 9th), vi. 373. IMG:content-1025.png:[blocks in formation] measure me as'-ûre, *měs-üre (sas zh), s . [Fr. mes ure, from Latin mensura =measure, fem. sing. of mensurus, fut. par. of metior to measure; Sp. mesura; Ital. misura .] I. Ordinary Language: 1. The act of measuring. 2. The extent of anything in any one or more of the three dimensions of length, breadth, and thickne ; or in circumference, capacity, or other respect. "And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, were after the measure of the gate that looketh towards the sea." - Ezekiel xl. 22. 3. The several measurements nece ary to be taken by a tradesman in order to make an article of dre ; as, to take one's measure for a suit of clothes. 4. A standard of measurement; a definite unit of capacity or extent, fixed by law or custom, in terms of which the relative sizes and capacities of things are ascertained and expre ed; as, a foot, a yard, a mile are measures of length; a pint, a gallon, measures of capacity; a square foot, a measure of area; a cubic foot, a measure of volume, . IMG:content-1026.png:[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small] SQUARE OR SURFACE MEASURE. 1 yard. 1 rod. 1 chain. 2658 to lead; an act, a step, or proceeding designed for the accomplishment of an object; as, wise measures , prudent measures, . 15. A law, a statute, an act of Parliament. II. Technically : 1. Geol. ( pl .): A series of beds, strata; the word occurs chiefly in the term coal - measures . 2. Joinery : Single measure is square on both sides; double measure molded on both sides; measure and a half molded on one side, square on the other. 3. Math .: The measure of a quantity in its extent, or its value, in terms of some other quantity of the same kind, taken as a unit of measure. 4. Mining: A stratum or bed of coal. 5. Music: (1) A general name for a slow and stately dance, supposed to be like the minuet. (2) Time, pace. (3) Rhythm. (4) The contents of a bar. 6. Poetry : The arrangement of the syllables in each line with respect to quantity or accent; rhythm, meter; as, iambic measure , hexameter measure. 1 IMG:content-1027.png:[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small] 1 standard gallon (U.S.). 12 inches. 3 feet 5% yards, or 16% feet. 4 rods. 10 chains, or 40 rods 8 furlongs, or 5,280 feet. 144 square inches. 9 square feet. 304 square yards. 16 square rods... 10 square chains. 640 acres 1728 cubic inches 27 cubic feet IMG:content-1028.png:[ocr errors] 1 cubic yard. IMG:content-1029.png:[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors] 1 ton. IMG:content-1030.png:[merged small][ocr errors] 1 cord foot. IMG:content-1031.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-1032.png:[blocks in formation] 1 cord of wood. 1 perch of stone. MEASURE. make 1 link. 1 chain. 1 statute mile. 1 geographical degree. CLOTH MEASURE. IMG:content-1033.png:[blocks in formation] 5. The quantity measured by or contained in such standard of measurement. "A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny." -Revelation vi. 6. 6. An estimate or estimation. "He might take a measure of his own judgments, so curiously he had set this counterfeit." -Shakesp .: All's Well that Ends Well , iv. 3. 7. An instrument by which the extent or amount of capacity is measured or ascertained; a measuring-rod. 8. A rule or standard by which anything is measured, valued, or estimated. "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." -Ephesians iv. 7. 9. That which is measured out, allotted, or as signed. 10. Determined or allotted extent or length; limit. "Lord, make me to know mineend, and the measure of my days."- Psalm xxxix. 4. 11. Moderation; just degree or amount. (Now only used in such phrases as within measure, beyond measure , .) "There is measure in everything." --Shakesp: Much Ado about Nothing ., ii. 1. 12. Full or sufficient quantity. "I'll never pause again, Till either death hath closed these eyes of mine Or fortune given me measure of revenge." Shakesp.: Henry VI., Pt . III ., ii. 3. 13. Degree, extent; indefinite amount or quantity. "The rains were but preparatory in some measure."Burnet: Theory of the Earth. (2) Unit of measure: A given quantity, used as a standard of comparison in measuring a quantity of the same kind. Every kind of quantity has its own unit of measure, and under different circum. stances, the same kind of quantity may have different units of measure. (3) Line of measures : The line of intersection of the primitive plane, with a plane pa ing through the axis of the primitive circle and the axis of the circle to be projected. (4) Measure of angles: The right angle being taken as the angular unit, its subdivisions are degrees, minutes, and seconds. The right angle contains ninety degrees, the degree sixty minutes, and the minute sixty seconds. All smaller fractions are expre ed decimally in terms of the second. The French have proposed to divide the right angle into 100 equal parts, called grades, but the suggestion has not been extensively adopted. (5) Measure of a number or quantity : Math.: A number or quantity is said to be a measure of another when it is contained in it a certain number of times exactly. (6) Measure of magnification : The measure of magnification, or magnifying power of any optical instrument, is the ratio of the magnitude of the image to the magnitude of the object, or, more precisely, the ratio of the apparent diameter of the image to that of the object. [MICROSCOPE, TELESCOPE.] (7) Measures of merchandise and artificers ' work : These vary according to custom and trade: the yard and its fractions for woven goods; the fathom for rope; the bushel, peck, and gallon for grain and roots; the gallon and its subdivisions for liquids. (8) Measure of a ratio : Its logarithm, in any system of logarithms, or the exponent of the power to which the ratio is equal, the exponent of some given ratio being a umed as unity. [RATIO.] (9) Measure of surface : The unit of measurement is the square yard. The units employed in land measure are the perch, rood, and acre (q. v.). (10) Measures of volume and capacity : Solids are estimated in cubic yards, feet, and inches; 1728 cubic inches make a cubic foot, and 27 cubic feet make a cubic yard. (11) Measures of weight : [WEIGHT.]