mean

\ˈmin\

/\ˈmin\/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“mean” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #29,857) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#29,857
frequency rank, French
5,038
“M” headwords
3
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Signifier, vouloir dire.

Corpus desk

Index FR-mean · mean · French

mean · rank #29,857 · 3 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #29,857
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 3 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,038
  • PHOTO-FINISH maure

Nearest frequency peer: maure (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Voisins de fréquence du confusable « mean »

Pairs de poids proche dans le corpus, séparés des confusables ci-dessous

corpus weight

What this shows Les barres placent « mean » face aux lemmes français les plus proches par rang, pas un reprint du bureau des confusables.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

mean vs MN
0% similar
mean vs mon
50% similar
mean vs mes
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for mean
PropertyValue
Headwordmean
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\ˈmin\
Letters4
Frequency rank#29,857
Misspellings tracked3
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Rang de corpus près des confusables de « mean »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.meanse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « maure » (#29,856), « mats » (#29,855), « mendier » (#29,859). Parmi 5,038 lemmes en « M », « mean » est au #29,857. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for mean is neighbouring look-alikes ("MN", "mon", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced \ˈmin\. Frequency #29,857 among 5,038 “M” headwords. 4 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for mean, with forms such as "eman", "meann", and "mmean". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "MN", "mon", "mes", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is mean, spelled M-E-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Signifier, vouloir dire.
  2. 2
    Prévoir, avoir l’intention de.
  3. 3
    Impliquer.
  4. 4
    Être sérieux dans. Note d’usage : Le COD est ce que dit le sujet.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how mean appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. What does it mean?
  2. I meant to buy some gum, but I forgot.

Synonyms

signify

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • eman
  • meann
  • mmean

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mean - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

eman2meann1mmean1
Edit distance from "mean"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mean"?
"mean" is spelled M-E-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈmin\.
What does "mean" mean?
As a verb, "mean" means: Signifier, vouloir dire.
What words are commonly confused with "mean"?
"mean" is commonly confused with "MN", "mon", "mes". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "mean"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mean" is \ˈmin\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mean" come from?
"mean" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "mean", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

mats#29,855Lomé#29,846Kind#29,837PACS#29,899

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list