English
bemean
Bemean comes from Middle English imene ‘average, lowly, mean’, from Proto-West Germanic *gamainī ‘common’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gamainiz ‘shared, communal, public’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gamainiz‘shared, communal, public’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gamainī‘common’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ġemǣne‘mean, common, average’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500imene‘average, lowly, mean’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500meneaphetic variation of imene
- Englishearliest quotation 1973bemean
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gamainiz‘shared, communal, public’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gamainī‘common’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ġemǣne‘mean, common, average’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500imene‘average, lowly, mean’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500meneaphetic variation of imene
- Englishearliest quotation 1973bemean
Earliest quotation: 1973, Alfred Bertram Guthrie, Wild Pitch (Fiction): “I fished carefully, used wet flies and dry, all…”
Formed from be- + mean ‘base, lowly’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi ‘at, near’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi
Proto-Germanic *bi ‘near, by’
Proto-Germanic *bi-
Proto-West Germanic *bi-
English be-
Proto-Indo-European *meyn- ‘to think’
Proto-Germanic *mainijaną ‘to mean, think’
Proto-West Germanic *mainijan
Old English mǣnan ‘to mean; to say, relate’
Middle English menen ‘to intend’
English mean
Linked words
through Middle English mene
Today it means
verb To make mean or base, demean.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *gamainiz / bemean