Why "ment" steers us wrong: the linguistic perspective

What kind of error is it?

Spelling error

Why do people make this mistake?

People might make this error due to the similarity between the pronunciation of "meant" and "ment." The silent "a" in "meant" can be easily overlooked, leading to the incorrect spelling.

What is correct?

"Meant" is the correct past tense and past participle form of the verb "mean".