How to pronounce mean
American English pronunciation
MEEN
- IPA
- /ˈmin/
- Syllables
- MEEN (1 syllable)
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What mean means
Most people know mean in its everyday sense. Here's its other meaning.
The average, found by adding numbers and dividing
In a sentence: To find the mean of 2, 4 and 6, add them up to get 12, then divide by 3.
Where it comes from: This mean came through French from the Latin medianus, meaning in the middle. It is a different word from mean, unkind, which comes from an Old English word for shared or common.
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