mætan

Old English

Etymology

From an earlier sense meaning "to paint, sculpt, design," from Proto-West Germanic *maitijan (“to cut”), from Proto-Germanic *maitaną. Doublet of mētan (“to paint, sculpt, design”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmæː.tɑn/

Verb

mǣtan

1. (impersonal) to dream (+dative or accusative of person)

   Þonne hē slǣpþ, þonne mǣt hine be þē ānre.

   When he sleeps, he only dreams about you.

   • late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Genesis 42:9

     Þā ġemunde Iosep þāra swefna þe hine æt sumum ċierre ǣr mǣtte.

     Then Joseph remembered the dreams that he'd had at some point before.

Usage notes

Following verbs were subjunctive: Mē mǣtte þæt iċ wǣre ġīet on mīnum ealdan hūse ("I dreamed that I was [lit. were] still in my old house").

Conjugation

Conjugation of mǣtan (weak class 1)

infinitive	mǣtan	mǣtenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	—	—
second person singular	—	—
third person singular	mǣteþ, mǣtt, mǣt	mǣtte
plural	—	—
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	mǣte	mǣtte
plural	—	—
imperative
singular	—
plural	—
participle	present	past
	mǣtende	(ġe)mǣted

Derived terms

• mǣting
• ġemǣtan

Descendants

• Middle English: meten
  • English: met

See also

• swefn