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:
“Parents must not only have certain ways of guiding by prohibition and permission; they must also be able to represent to the child a deep, an almost somatic conviction that there is a meaning to what they are doing. Ultimately, children become neurotic not from frustrations, but from the lack or loss of societal meaning in these frustrations.”
—Erik H. Erikson (20th century)
“‘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)
“Ideas improve. The meaning of words participates in the improvement. Plagiarism is necessary. Progress implies it. It embraces an author’s phrase, makes use of his expressions, erases a false idea, and replaces it with the right idea.”
—Guy Debord (b. 1931)