Dictionary

bemean en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /bɪˈmiːn/

Etymology

From Middle English bemenen, equivalent to be- + mean (“to signify”). Compare Middle High German bemeinen (“to mean”).

Meanings

1. (obsolete, transitive) To mean; signify; inform.

Forms

bemean en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /bɪˈmiːn/

Etymology

From be- + mean (“base, lowly”), from Middle English mene, aphetic variation of Middle English imene (“average, lowly, mean”), from Old English ġemǣne (“mean, common, average”). More at mean.

Meanings

1. To make mean or base, demean.
   • I fished carefully, used wet flies and dry, all that I had in my book, and even bemeaned myself by baiting a plain hook with a grasshopper. 1973, Alfred Bertram Guthrie, Wild Pitch (Fiction), G. K. Hall, →ISBN, page 85:

Forms

Synonyms

demean