Meanings
- uncountableInstrumentality.
This is one of the main values to be achieved throughout budget administration. Its use as a criterion of procedure enhances the meanship or instrumentality of the budget.
1934, The Nation's Schools, volume 14, page 422 more examples
This concept of the meanship of business has no place for that type of business administration which, frequently having been made independent of educational administration, seeks to dictate to those concerned with the ultimate educational […]
1935, New York State Education - Volume 22 - Page 488It is more in harmony with the element of meanship in finance. You will find it increasingly difficult to progress in the integration of education when finance and, more particularly, state aid are working against you.
1935, Official Report, page 58
Origin
From means + -ship. Plural forms assuming a singular form when used as the adjunct of a composed term is common; cf. ten-foot pole (not *ten-feet pole), pantleg (not *pantsleg), and stairwell (not *stairswell).
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
meanship. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meanship
“meanship.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meanship. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “meanship,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meanship.
Source: meanship on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.