meant
- 1Simple past and past participle of mean.
The flashing sign meant that the road ahead was closed.
The promotion had meant longer hours and more travel.
Note
One irregular form does double duty: it stands bare in the simple past (she meant well) and follows have or be in perfect and passive clauses. The -t ending is old, reaching back through Middle English ment to Old English mǣnde. The passive is worth watching, because was meant to can signal fate rather than plan (they were meant for each other), a use heard regionally.
meant is a form of mean
mean, verb: Of a word, sign, or thing, to have a particular sense, or to be a sign of something. Full entry
- Spelling
- mean → meant: irregular (no -ed)
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Origin
This is the past tense and past participle of "mean." It comes from Middle English "ment, mente," from Old English "mǣnde, mǣndon," formed from "mean" plus "-t."