Average

Japanese: 平均 - へいきん

〘 noun 〙 (formerly also called "heigin") 1. Flat and equal. Without disparity. Also, to make sure there are no disparities. To make equal. To make uniform. To smooth out. Equality. ※Sugake Bunsou (around 900), 5: Left King Gosho, at Senpu-bo Rinsuitei, gives a farewell gift to the Oshu governor, "Try hard, try hard, and in the future the emperor will be on an equal footing." ※Nippo Jisho (1603-04): "Kuni wo feiguinni (heiginni) wo samurai." ※Bunmei-ron no Gyakuryaku (Outline of Civilization Theory) (1875) by Fukuzawa Yukichi, 5: "The profits of agriculture and the profits of industry and commerce will be equalized." [Book of Songs - Cao Feng, Pipiu] 2. To pacify. To unify. ※Azuma Kagami - March 7, 1181 (Yōwa 1) "The Genji clan in all provinces _will be _exterminated on an average, _but in reality _{there is no} _one who can do so. _The limit is military edicts." ③ To return to a normal state. To recover from an illness. ※Jōruri - Kiyomizu Kannon Risei Monogatari (c. 1681) 2 "Please make this Emperor's wish come true." ④ To balance one thing with another. Equilibrium. ※Newspaper Magazine - Issue 14, September 1871 (Meiji 4) "Between consumption and revival, the average (heikin) is not maintained." ※I Am a Cat (1905-06)〈Natsume Soseki〉 4 "Breaking the average of the heart" ⑤ A number or quantity that has a value between several numbers or quantities. Average value. Also, the operation to calculate it. Usually, it refers to the arithmetic mean or other average value obtained by dividing the sum of several numbers or quantities by the number of them. Depending on how the intermediate meaning is taken, it is also called the geometric mean or the harmonic mean. *Kakushihon Kokugi (1780) 3 "The number of cherry trees purchased was 260, calculated by multiplying the average of three trees." *Bunmeiron no Gyakuryaku (Outline of a Theory of Civilization) (1875) by Fukuzawa Yukichi 2 "If you average the number of sunny and rainy days in a year." [Additional notes] The reading is "heigin" in "Bunmeihon Setsuyoshu," "Nippo Jisho," and "Shogenjiko Setsuyoshu." However, "Waeigorinshusei (First Edition)" from the end of the Edo period and "Genkai" from the early Meiji period say it is "heikin," and it seems that "ki" came to be read as a clear sound in the latter half of the Edo period.

Source: The Selected Edition of the Japanese Language Dictionary About the Selected Edition of the Japanese Language Dictionary Information

Japanese:

〘名〙 (古くは「へいぎん」とも)① 平らかで等しいこと。不同のないこと。また、不同のないようにすること。等しくすること。均一にすること。ならすこと。平等。※菅家文草（900頃）五・左金吾相公、於宣風坊臨水亭、餞別奥州刺史「努力努力猶努力、明々天子恰平均」※日葡辞書（1603‐04）「クニヲ feiguinni(ヘイギンニ) ヲサムル」※文明論之概略（1875）〈福沢諭吉〉五「農の利と工商の利と互に平均する」〔詩経伝‐曹風・鳲鳩〕② 平定すること。統一すること。※吾妻鏡‐養和元年（1181）三月七日「諸国源氏平均可_レ被_二追伐_一之条者無_二其実_一。所_レ限武衛許也」③ 常の状態とすること。病気などが平癒すること。※浄瑠璃・清水観音利生物語（1681頃か）二「此たびのみかどの御なふへいきんならしめ給へやと」④ あれとこれがつり合うこと。均衡。つりあい。※新聞雑誌‐一四号・明治四年（1871）九月「消費すると復生するとの間に平均(ヘイキン)を保つに非れば」※吾輩は猫である（1905‐06）〈夏目漱石〉四「心の平均を破る」⑤ いくつかの数または量の中間の値を持つ数または量。平均値。また、それを求める演算。普通はいくつかの数または量の和をそれらの個数で割って得られる相加平均やその他の平均値をさすことが多い。中間の意味の取り方により、相乗平均、調和平均とよばれるものもある。※滑稽本・古朽木（1780）三「三本平均の積にて買出したる桜の数二百六十本」※文明論之概略（1875）〈福沢諭吉〉二「一年の間に晴雨の日を平均して計れば」[補注]読みは、「文明本節用集」「日葡辞書」「書言字考節用集」にはヘイギンとある。しかし、幕末の「和英語林集成（初版）」や明治前期の「言海」にはヘイキンとあり、江戸時代後半にキは清音で読まれるようになったと思われる。

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