In mathematics:
* Arithmetic mean: The average of a set of numbers. It's calculated by adding all the numbers together and then dividing by the total number of values.
* Geometric mean: A type of mean that is useful for finding the central tendency of a set of numbers that are multiplicative. It's calculated by multiplying all the numbers together and then taking the nth root, where n is the number of values.
* Harmonic mean: Another type of mean that is useful for averaging rates or ratios. It's calculated by dividing the number of values by the sum of the reciprocals of each value.
In general language:
* Unkind or unpleasant: This is the most common meaning of "mean" in everyday conversation. For example, "She was mean to me" means that she was unkind or unpleasant.
* Average: This is less common but still used, particularly when discussing statistics or data. For example, "The mean temperature this month was 20 degrees" means the average temperature was 20 degrees.
To understand what "mean" means in a specific context, you need more information. Please provide the sentence or situation where you encountered the word "mean".