mete

See also: Mete, meté, mete-, and mɛtɛ

Contents

English

WOTD – 15 September 2006

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /miːt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːt
• Homophones: meat, meet

Etymology 1

From Middle English meten, from Old English metan (“to measure, mete out, mark off, compare, estimate; pass over, traverse”), from Proto-Germanic *metaną (“to measure”), from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure, consider”). Cognate with Scots mete (“to measure”), Saterland Frisian meete (“to measure”), West Frisian mjitte (“to measure”), Dutch meten (“to measure”), German messen (“to measure”), Swedish mäta (“to measure”), Latin modus (“limit, measure, target”), Ancient Greek μεδίμνος (medímnos, “measure, bushel”), Ancient Greek μέδεσθαι (médesthai, “care for”), Old Armenian միտ (mit, “mind”).

Verb

mete (third-person singular simple present metes, present participle meting, simple past and past participle meted)

1. (transitive, archaic, poetic, dialectal) To measure.
   • 1611 — King James Version of the Bible, Matthew 7:2

     For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

   • 1870s Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Soothsay, lines 80-83

     the Power that fashions man

     Measured not out thy little span

     For thee to take the meting-rod

     In turn,

2. (transitive, usually with “out”) To dispense, measure (out), allot (especially punishment, reward etc.).
   • 1833 — Alfred Tennyson, Ulysses

     Match'd with an agèd wife, I mete and dole

     Unequal laws unto a savage race

Derived terms

• bemete
• mete out
• unmeted

Translations

To measure

• Finnish: mitata (fi)
• Kurdish: pîvan (ku)
• Polish: mierzyć (pl) impf, zmierzyć (pl) pf, pomierzyć (pl) pf

• Spanish: medir (es)
• Swedish: mäta (sv)

To dispense

• Finnish: jakaa (fi)
• Kurdish: siza dan (ku), ceza kirin (ku)
• Polish: wymierzać impf, wymierzyć (pl) pf

• Spanish: extender (es)
• Swedish: måtta (sv)

Etymology 2

From Middle English, from Old French mete (“boundary, boundary marker”), from Latin mēta (“post, goal, marker”), from Proto-Indo-European *meit- (“stake, post”). Cognate with Old English wullmod ("distaff").

Noun

mete (plural metes)

1. A boundary or other limit; a boundary-marker; mere.

Anagrams

• Teme, etem, meet, teem, teme

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Czech

Verb

mete

1. Third-person singular present indicative form of mést

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Dutch

Verb

mete

1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of meten

Anagrams

• meet

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Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French mettre (“put, put on”)

Verb

mete

1. put
2. put on

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Italian

Noun

mete f

1. plural of meta

Anagrams

• teme, temè, temé

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Latin

Verb

mete

1. second-person singular present active imperative of metō

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English mete (“food”) (also met, mett, whence the forms with a short vowel), from Proto-Germanic *matiz. More at meat.

Alternative forms

• mæte, meet, meete, mette

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛːt(ə)/, /mɛt/

Noun

mete (plural metes or meten)

2. Food, nourishment or comestibles; that which is eaten:
   1. A store, reserve, or supply of food or nourishment.
   2. An individual portion of food, especially when cooked.
   3. Meat; (an item of) food made from the (usually cooked) flesh of animals.
   4. The food that animals eat (including prey or lures)
3. The act of dining; a lunch.

Derived terms

• bake mete
• meteles

Descendants

• English: meat
• Scots: mete, met, meit, mait
• Yola: met

Etymology 2

From Old French mete (“boundary, mere”), from Latin mēta. More at mete.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛːt(ə)/

Noun

mete

2. boundary, target, point, position.

Descendants

• English: mete

Etymology 3

From Old English ġemǣte (“suitable, meet”), from Proto-Germanic *mētijaz, a variant of *mētiz. More at meet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛːt(ə)/

Alternative forms

• meete

Adjective

mete

2. suitable, fitting, appropriate.
3. pleasing, accommodating, useful.
4. right in shape or size, well-fitting.

Descendants

• English: meet
• Scots: mete, meit

Adverb

mete

1. appropriately
2. copiously

References

• The Middle English Dictionary (M.E.D.)[1]
• Riverside Chaucer[2]

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Old English

Alternative forms

• met
• mett

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *matiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmete/

Noun

mete m

1. food

Declension

Declension of mete (strong i-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	mete	mete, metas
accusative	mete	mete, metas
genitive	metes	meta
dative	mete	metum

Derived terms

• ǣfenmete
• metelēas
• morgenmete
• nōnmete

Descendants

• Middle English: mete
  • Scots: mete, met, meit, mait
  • English: meat
  • Yola: met

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Old Frisian

Noun

mete

1. food, especially sustenance (as opposed to desserts, snacks, or sweets)

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Portuguese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.t(ʃ)i/
• Hyphenation: me‧te
• Rhymes: -ɛt(ʃ)i

Verb

mete

1. Third-person singular (ele, ela, also used with tu and você^?) present indicative of meter
2. Second-person singular (tu) affirmative imperative of meter

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Rawa

Adjective

mete

1. good

References

• Norma Toland, Donald Toland, Reference Grammar of the Karo/Rawa Language (1991)

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Spanish

Verb

mete

1. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of meter.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of meter.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of meter.