Main — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

any very large body of (salt) water

a principal pipe in a system that distributes water or gas or electricity or that collects sewage

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/mˈeɪn/

🇬🇧British English

/mˈeɪn/

🇮🇳Indian English

/mˈeɪn/

1 syllable Say it as /mˈeɪn/.

Examples

the chief aim of living
the main doors were of solid glass
the principal rivers of America

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

independent chief briny principal master primary

Antonyms

dependent

Parts of Speech

noun	any very large body of (salt) water
noun	a principal pipe in a system that distributes water or gas or electricity or that collects sewage
adjective	most important element “the chief aim of living”
adjective	(of a clause) capable of standing syntactically alone as a complete sentence “the main (or independent) clause in a complex sentence has at least a subject and a verb”
adjective	of force; of the greatest possible intensity “by main strength”

Word Forms

briny

adjective

slightly salty (especially from containing a mixture of seawater and fresh water)

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

hauptsächlich

jede sehr große (Salz-)Wassermasse

🇫🇷French

principal

toute très grande étendue d'eau (salée)

🇪🇸Spanish

principal

cualquier masa muy grande de agua (salada)

🇮🇹Italian

principale

qualsiasi specchio d'acqua (salato) molto grande

🇳🇱Dutch

voornaamst

elke zeer grote hoeveelheid (zout) water

🇵🇹Portuguese

principal

qualquer corpo muito grande de água (salgada)

🇷🇺Russian

основной

любой очень большой водоем (соленой) воды

India

🇮🇳Hindi

मुख्य

(नमक) पानी का कोई बहुत बड़ा पिंड

🇧🇩Bengali

প্রধান

(লবণ) জলের কোনো খুব বড় শরীর

🇮🇳Tamil

முக்கிய

(உப்பு) நீரின் மிகப் பெரிய உடல்

🇮🇳Telugu

ప్రధాన

ఏదైనా చాలా పెద్ద (ఉప్పు) నీరు

🇮🇳Marathi

मुख्य

(मीठ) पाण्याचे कोणतेही खूप मोठे शरीर

🇮🇳Gujarati

મુખ્ય

(મીઠું) પાણીનું કોઈપણ ખૂબ મોટું શરીર

🇮🇳Kannada

ಮುಖ್ಯ

(ಉಪ್ಪು) ನೀರಿನ ಯಾವುದೇ ದೊಡ್ಡ ದೇಹ

🇮🇳Malayalam

പ്രധാനം

(ഉപ്പ്) ജലത്തിൻ്റെ ഏതെങ്കിലും വളരെ വലിയ ശരീരം

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਮੁੱਖ

(ਲੂਣ) ਪਾਣੀ ਦਾ ਕੋਈ ਵੀ ਬਹੁਤ ਵੱਡਾ ਸਰੀਰ

🇵🇰Urdu

اہم

(نمک) پانی کا کوئی بہت بڑا جسم

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

主要的

任何非常大的（盐）水体

🇯🇵Japanese

主要

非常に大きな（塩）水塊

🇰🇷Korean

기본

매우 큰 (소금) 물

🇻🇳Vietnamese

chủ yếu

bất kỳ lượng nước (muối) rất lớn nào

🇹🇭Thai

หลัก

แหล่งน้ำ (เกลือ) ที่มีขนาดใหญ่มาก

🇮🇩Indonesian

utama

kumpulan air (garam) yang sangat besar

🇵🇭Filipino

pangunahing

anumang napakalaking katawan ng (asin) na tubig

🇲🇾Malay

utama

mana-mana badan air (garam) yang sangat besar

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

رئيسي

أي جسم كبير جدًا من الماء (المالح).

🇮🇷Persian

اصلی

هر حجم بسیار بزرگ آب (نمکی).

🇹🇷Turkish

ana

herhangi bir çok büyük (tuzlu) su kütlesi

🇮🇱Hebrew

רָאשִׁי

כל גוף גדול מאוד של מים (מלח).

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'main'?

The primary meaning of 'main' is 'any very large body of (salt) water'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'main' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'main' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'main' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'main' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'main' in your daily reading?

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Do you find 'main' easy to spell?

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In your opinion, does the word 'main' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

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Would you classify 'main' as formal, casual, or slang?

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Slang

Archaic

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