main

Pronunciation

• IPA: /meɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English main, inherited from Old English mægen (“power, bodily strength, force”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *maginą (“power”),^[2] formed from the Germanic base meaning “to have power” that gave may.^[4][5][3] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *magh- (“to be able, have power”).^[2][6] The adjective comes from the combining form mægen- in Old English compounds such as mægenstrengo (“great strength”),^[5][2] partly influenced by the related Old Norse megenn (“strong, powerful”).^[2][4][7][3] Its cognates include Old Saxon megin and Old High German magan (“strength”).^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Physical strength or force: Old English mægen;^[8][2] the adjective appears in Old English compounds in Beowulf, about 725.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The original sense of the noun survives only in with might and main.^[2][4] In Old English mægen also meant a host or military force.^[8] The adjective meant “large, strong” in the early 13th century, and probably before 1200 in Layamon,^[2][3] a sense now obsolete except in by main force.^[4] “Chief, principal” is from about 1400,^[2] or 1480 in the Historical Thesaurus,^[9] and “chief in size or extent” from the 1590s.^[2] The noun came to mean the mainland from 1555,^[8] the open ocean from 1579,^[8] the chief part of something from about 1600,^[2] and the principal pipe for water or gas later still.^[10] The main chance, from the game of hazard, is from the 1570s,^[2] and main course at a meal from 1829.^[2] The Spanish Main is named from 1890 in the OED's record.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English mægen- in compounds (Beowulf).^[3]
• before 1200 – adjective, outstanding in size (Layamon).^[3]
• c. 1400 – adjective, chief, principal.^[2]
• 1555 – the mainland.^[8]
• 1570s – the main chance.^[2]
• 1579 – the open sea.^[8]
• c. 1600 – the chief part.^[2]
• 1829 – main course.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Most important; principal.
2. Exerted to the utmost; sheer: by main force.
3. (grammar) Of the principal clause of a sentence.
4. (nautical) Of or near the mainmast.

Noun

1. The principal pipe or line in a system carrying water, gas or electricity.
2. The chief or largest part: in the main.
3. Physical strength: with might and main.
4. (archaic) The mainland, or the open ocean.

Word family

• mainsail
• mainly
• mainstream
• mainstay
• mainframe
• amain
• mainer
• mainland

Related words

• may
• might

Usage notes

Two other nouns main are rare: one, in Scotland and the north, means a home farm (the mains of a house), shortened from domain;^[4][8] the other, probably from main chance, is a number called in the dice game of hazard and a match between fighting cocks.^[4][8][11]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)