Meaning may refer to:
- Meaning (linguistics), meaning which is communicated through the use of language
- Meaning (non-linguistic), extra-linguistic meaning (intentional communication without the use of language), and natural meaning, where no intentions are involved at all
- Meaning (semiotics) has to do with the distribution of signs in sign relations
- Meaning as a relationship between ontology and truth
- Meaning as a reference or equivalence
- Meaning (philosophy of language)
- Meaning (psychology)
- Meaning as values, a value system or as derived from value theory
- Meaning (existential), as it is understood in contemporary existentialism
- The meaning of life, a notion concerning the nature of human existence
- Meaning (House), an episode of the TV series House
Famous quotes containing the word meaning:
“‘Tis good to give a stranger a meal or a night’s lodging. ‘Tis better to be hospitable to his good meaning and thought, and give courage to a companion. We must be as courteous to a man as we are to a picture, which we are willing to give the advantage of a good light.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“From man’s blood-sodden heart are sprung
Those branches of the night and day
Where the gaudy moon is hung.
What’s the meaning of all song?
“Let all things pass away.””
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)