An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/meinen

by Friedrich Kluge

meinen, vb., ‘to think, opine, mean,’ from MidHG. meinen, ‘to direct one's thoughts to, have in view, aim at, be affected towards a person, love,’ OHG. meinen, meinan, ‘to mean, think, say, declare’; comp. OSax. mênian, Du. meenen, AS. mœ̂nan, E. to mean (to this AS. mœ̂nan, E. to moan, are supposed to be allied); Goth. *mainjan is wanting. The most closely allied term is OSlov. měnja, měniti, ‘to mean.’ The latter, as well as West Teut. meinen (assuming mainjan from mênjan)'is usually rightly connected with the man, ‘to think’ (comp. mahnen, Mann, and Minne). The meaning ‘to love’ appears only in MidHG., but with the revival of MidHG. literature it has been introduced into ModHG. poetry. —