1. Home
  2. Scrabble Dictionary. Word Meaning and Points

Main in Scrabble and Meaning

Lookup Word Points and Definitions

What does main mean? Is main a Scrabble word?

How many points in Scrabble is main worth? main how many points in Words With Friends? What does main mean? Get all these answers on this page.

Scrabble® and Words with Friends® points for main

See how to calculate how many points for main.

Is main a Scrabble word?

Yes. The word main is a Scrabble US word. The word main is worth 6 points in Scrabble:

M3A1I1N1

Is main a Scrabble UK word?

Yes. The word main is a Scrabble UK word and has 6 points:

M3A1I1N1

Is main a Words With Friends word?

Yes. The word main is a Words With Friends word. The word main is worth 8 points in Words With Friends (WWF):

M4A1I1N2

Our tools

Valid words made from Main

Jump to...

Results

4-letter words (4 found)

AMIN,MAIN,MANI,MINA,

3-letter words (8 found)

AIM,AIN,AMI,ANI,MAN,MNA,NAM,NIM,

2-letter words (7 found)

AI,AM,AN,IN,MA,MI,NA,

You can make 19 words from main according to the Scrabble US and Canada dictionary.

All 4 letters words made out of main

main amin mian iman aimn iamn mani amni mnai nmai anmi nami mina imna mnia nmia inma nima ainm ianm anim naim inam niam

Note: these 'words' (valid or invalid) are all the permutations of the word main. These words are obtained by scrambling the letters in main.

Definitions and meaning of main

main

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: mān, IPA(key): /meɪn/
  • Rhymes: -eɪn
  • Homophones: mane, Maine

Etymology 1

From Middle English mayn, main, maine, mæin, meyn, from main (noun) (see further at etymology 2); compare Old English mægen- (“strong, main, principal”) (used in combination) and Old Norse megn, megenn (“strong, main”).

The word is cognate with Old High German megīn (“strong, mighty”) (modern German Möge, Vermögen (“power, wealth”)), and also akin to Old English magan (“to be able to”). See also may.

Adjective

main (not comparable)

  1. Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal. [from 15th c.]
  2. Chief, most important, or principal in extent, size, or strength; consisting of the largest part.
    Synonym: largest
  3. (archaic, of force, strength, etc.) Full, sheer, undivided. [from 16th c.]
  4. (dialectal) Big; angry.
  5. (nautical) Belonging to or connected with the principal mast in a vessel.
  6. (obsolete) Great in size or degree; important, powerful, strong, vast.
Derived terms
Translations

Adverb

main (comparative more main, superlative most main)

  1. (British, dialectal) Exceedingly, extremely, greatly, mightily, very, very much.

Verb

main (third-person singular simple present mains, present participle maining, simple past and past participle mained)

  1. (transitive, slang) Short for mainline (“to inject (a drug) directly into a vein”).
  2. (transitive, gaming) To mainly play a specific character or side, or with specific equipment, during a game.
  3. (obsolete) To convert (a road) into a main or primary road.

Etymology 2

From Middle English mayn, main, maine, mæine, mæȝen, from Old English mæġen (“strength”), from Proto-Germanic *maginą (“strength, power, might”), *maginaz (“strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *megʰ- (“be able”).

The word is cognate with Old High German magen, megin, Old Norse magn, megn, megin, Old Saxon megin. More recent senses are derived from the adjective.

Noun

main (plural mains)

  1. That which is chief or principal; the chief or main portion; the bulk, the greater part, gross.
    1. (video games) The primary character that one plays in a video game in which one can play more than one character.
      Antonym: alt
  2. A large cable or pipe providing utility service to an area or a building, such as a water main or electric main. [from 17th c.]
  3. (informal) Short for main course (“the principal dish of a meal”).
  4. (now poetic) The high seas. [from 16th c.]
  5. (now archaic, US dialectal) The mainland. [from 16th c.]
  6. (nautical) Short for mainsail. [from 17th c.]
  7. (obsolete, except in might and main) Force, power, strength, violent effort. [from 9th c.]
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

Uncertain; probably from the adjective main. Evidence is lacking for a derivation from French main (“hand”).

Noun

main (plural mains)

  1. (obsolete, gaming) A hand or match in a game of dice.
    • 1876, Charles Dickens, All the Year Round
      That no minute might be wasted, the gay gallants of the time generally had a dice-box and a cast of dice in their pockets. This was convenient in the extreme, as, in the intervals of racing, a main could be thrown […]
  2. (obsolete, gaming) The largest throw in a match at dice; in the game of hazard, a number from one to nine called out by a person before the dice are thrown.
  3. (obsolete, gaming) A stake played for at dice.
  4. (obsolete, gaming, sports) A sporting contest or match, especially a cockfighting match.
  5. A banker's shovel for coins.

Etymology 4

Uncertain, possibly from French main (“hand”).

Noun

main (plural mains)

  1. (obsolete, rare) A basket for gathering grapes.

References

Further reading

  • main (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
  • Main (power) in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

See also

Anagrams

  • Amin, Iman, Mani, Mian, Mina, NAMI, NIMA, Naim, amin, iman, mani, mina

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

  • moi (Luserna)

Etymology

From Middle High German mīn, form Old High German mīn, from Proto-West Germanic *mīn, from Proto-Germanic *mīnaz (“my, mine”). Cognate with German mein, English mine.

Determiner

main (plural main, bon/dar maindarn) (Sette Comuni)

  1. (attributive) my
    De main muutar ist noch jung. ― My mother is still young.
    An zun bon maindarn ghéet noch suul. ― My son still goes to school. (literally, “A son of mine still goes to school.”)
    Maina muutar! ― My mother!
  2. (predicative) mine
    De khua ist main. ― The cow is mine.

Usage notes

The following rules apply to all Sette Comuni Cimbrian possessive determiners:

  • They are inflected by number and gender in only exclamations (i.e. vocative case).
  • Before nouns, they are inflected for number only and follow the corresponding definite article (a form of dar).
    • The plural ending is -en, or -∅ when the pronoun itself ends in -n.
  • Predicatively, they are uninflected and the definite article is not used.
  • Following bon (“of”) or dar (the only surviving trace of a genitive definite article; used for all numbers and genders) they end in -darn.

Inflection

See also

References

  • “main” in Martalar, Umberto Martello, Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin mēne, from mē. Compare Romanian mine.

Pronoun

main

  1. (first-person singular pronoun, oblique case) me

Related terms

  • me
  • ju

Finnish

Noun

main

  1. instructive plural of maa

See also

  • jossain näillä main

Further reading

  • “main”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎[3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-12-01

Anagrams

  • mani, mina, nami

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French main, Old French main, mein, man, from Latin manus (“hand”), from Proto-Italic *manus, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂-r̥ ~ *mh₂-én-, derived from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon”), or perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European *mon-u- (see the Proto-Italic entry). Compare Spanish mano.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɛ̃/
  • Homophones: mains, maint, maints
  • Hyphenation: main

Noun

main f (plural mains)

  1. hand
  2. (soccer) handball
  3. (poker) hand
  4. quire

Synonyms

  • louche
  • mimine
  • paluche
  • pince

Meronyms

  • doigt
  • dos
  • paume
  • poignet
  • pouce

Holonyms

  • bras

Derived terms

Related terms

  • manche
  • manicle
  • manier
  • manipuler
  • manivelle
  • manuel

Descendants

  • →? English: main
  • →⇒ German: Lamäng
  • Haitian Creole: men
  • Louisiana Creole: men
  • ⇒ Mauritian Creole: lame

Further reading

  • “main”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

  • mina

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay main, from Proto-Malayic *maim, a reduction from Pre-Proto-Malayic *q-um-ayam, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qayam (“domesticated animal, toy”). Doublet of ayam (“chicken”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /main/
  • Hyphenation: main

Verb

main (bermain)

  1. to play

Derived terms

References

Further reading

  • “main” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Javanese

Verb

main

  1. to gamble

Kaiep

Noun

main

  1. woman

Further reading

  • Malcolm Ross, Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia, Pacific Linguistics, series C-98 (1988)
  • Stephen Adolphe Wurm, New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study (1976)

Malay

Etymology

A phonemical reduction from Pre-Proto-Malayic *q-um-ayam, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qayam. The Buku Katan alternatively proposes it as a product of suffixing maya +‎ -an.

Pronunciation

  • (Johor-Selangor) IPA(key): /maen/
  • (Riau-Lingga) IPA(key): /maɪn/
  • Rhymes: -aen, -en
  • Rhymes: -in

Verb

main (Jawi spelling ماءين, used in the form bermain)

  1. to play

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Indonesian: main
  • → Tok Pisin: main

References

Further reading

  • “main” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Middle English

Noun

main

  1. Alternative form of mayn

Adjective

main

  1. Alternative form of mayn

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French main, mein, man, from Latin manus.

Noun

main f (plural mains)

  1. (anatomy) hand

Descendants

  • French: main
    • →? English: main
    • →⇒ German: Lamäng
    • Haitian Creole: men
    • Louisiana Creole: men
    • ⇒ Mauritian Creole: lame

Norman

Alternative forms

  • man (continental Normandy)
  • môin (Guernsey)

Etymology

From Old French main, mein, man, from Latin manus (“hand”).

Pronunciation

Noun

main f (plural mains)

  1. (Jersey, anatomy) hand

Derived terms

  • brînge à main f (“brush”)
  • marté à deux mains m (“sledgehammer”)

Related terms

  • dé (“finger”)

Northern Sami

Pronoun

main

  1. locative plural of mii

Old French

Alternative forms

  • mein, man

Etymology

From Latin manus.

Noun

main oblique singular, f (oblique plural mainz, nominative singular main, nominative plural mainz)

  1. (anatomy) hand

Descendants

  • Bourguignon: moin
  • Middle French: main
    • French: main
      • →? English: main
      • →⇒ German: Lamäng
      • Haitian Creole: men
      • Louisiana Creole: men
      • ⇒ Mauritian Creole: lame
  • Norman: main
  • Walloon: mwin

Old Irish

Noun

main

  1. Alternative spelling of mainn

Mutation

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From Malay main.

Verb

main

  1. to play
    Synonym: pilai

Welsh

Etymology

Perhaps ultimately from the root of mwyn (“mild, tender”). Cognate with Breton moan, Cornish moon.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mai̯n/
  • Rhymes: -ai̯n
  • Homophone: maen (South Wales)

Adjective

main (feminine singular main, plural meinion, equative meined, comparative meinach, superlative meinaf)

  1. slender, thin
    Synonym: tenau
  2. fine
    Synonym: mân

Mutation


Source: wiktionary.org