Wiktionary

mete

See also: Mete, meté, metę, and mɛtɛ

EnglishEdit

WOTD – 15 September 2006

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

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”).

VerbEdit

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

  1. (transitive, archaic, poetic, dialectal) To measure.
  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
    • 1929 — Kirby Page, Jesus Or Christianity A Study In Contrasts, p. 31.
      Every generation metes out substantially the same punishment to those who fall far below and those who rise high above its standards.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit

Etymology 2Edit

From Middle English mete, borrowed from Old French mete (“boundary, boundary marker”), from Latin mēta (“post, goal, marker”). Cognate with the second element in Old English wullmod (“distaff”).

NounEdit

mete (plural metes)

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

Etymology 3Edit

AdjectiveEdit

mete (comparative more mete, superlative most mete)

  1. Obsolete spelling of meet (“suitable, fitting”)
    • 1570, Margaret Ascham, Roger Ascham, The Scholemaster, foreword:
      I could not finde any man for whose name this booke was more agreable for hope [of] protection, more mete for submission to iudgement, nor more due for respect of worthynesse of your part and thankefulnesse of my husbandes and myne.

AnagramsEdit

CzechEdit

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

mete

  1. third-person singular present indicative of mést

DutchEdit

VerbEdit

mete

  1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of meten

AnagramsEdit

EstonianEdit

NounEdit

mete

  1. genitive plural of mesi

Haitian CreoleEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Saint Dominican Creole French mété, from French mettre (“put, put on”)

VerbEdit

mete

  1. put
  2. put on

ItalianEdit

NounEdit

mete f

  1. plural of meta

AnagramsEdit

LatinEdit

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

mete

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of metō

Mauritian CreoleEdit

EtymologyEdit

From French mettre. Compare Haitian Creole mete.

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

mete (medial form met)

  1. to put; put on
  2. to set
  3. to wear

Middle EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

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

Alternative formsEdit

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ˈmɛːt(ə)/, /mɛt/

NounEdit

mete (plural metes or meten)

  2. Food, nourishment or comestibles; that which is eaten:
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “lxj”, in Le Morte Darthur, book X:
      And thenne he blewe his horne that the maronners had yeuen hym / And whanne they within the Castel herd that horne / they put forthe many knyghtes and there they stode vpon the walles / and said with one voys / welcome be ye to this castel / […] / and sire Palomydes entred in to the castel / And within a whyle he was serued with many dyuerse metes
      And then he blew his horn that the mariners had given him / And when they that were within the castle heard that horn / they put forth many knights and there they stood upon walls / and said with one voice: / “be welcome to this castle” / […] / and Sir Palamedes entered into the castle / And after a while he was served with many diverse meats
    1. A store or supply of food.
    2. An individual serving of food, especially when cooked.
    3. Meat; the (usually cooked) flesh of animals as (an item of) food.
    4. Food that animals eat (including prey or lures)
  3. The act of dining; a lunch.
Derived termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
  • English: meat
  • Scots: mete, met, meit, mait
  • Yola: met, maate
ReferencesEdit

Etymology 2Edit

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

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

mete

  2. boundary, target, point, position
DescendantsEdit

Etymology 3Edit

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

PronunciationEdit

Alternative formsEdit

AdjectiveEdit

mete

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

AdverbEdit

mete

  1. appropriately
  2. copiously

ReferencesEdit

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

Old EnglishEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Proto-Germanic *matiz.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

mete m

  1. food

DeclensionEdit

Declension of mete (strong i-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative mete metas
accusative mete metas
genitive metes meta
dative mete metum

Derived termsEdit

DescendantsEdit

Old FrisianEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Proto-West Germanic *mati.

NounEdit

mete

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

DescendantsEdit

PortugueseEdit

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

mete

  1. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present indicative of meter
  2. second-person singular (tu, sometimes used with você) affirmative imperative of meter

RawaEdit

AdjectiveEdit

mete

  1. good

ReferencesEdit

Serbo-CroatianEdit

VerbEdit

mete (Cyrillic spelling мете)

  1. third-person singular present of mesti

SpanishEdit

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ˈmete/, [ˈme.t̪e]

VerbEdit

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.

SumerianEdit

RomanizationEdit

mete

  1. Romanization of 𒋼 (mete)

WalloonEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old French metre, from Latin mittō, mittere (“send”).

VerbEdit

mete

  1. to put

ConjugationEdit

    —             —   Conjugation of the verb mete in Walloon   —   Codjowaedje do viebe mete e walon
infinitive mete
gerund metant
auxiliary aveur
past participle masculine feminine
singular metou metowe
plural metous metowes
singular plural
1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
indicative dji (dj') tu (t') i (il) / ele dji (dj') / nos vos i (il)
present mete metes mete metans metoz metnut or metèt
imperfect meteu meteus meteut metins metîz metint
preterit meta metas meta metîs metîz metît
future metrè metrès metrè metrans metroz metront
conditional metreu metreus metreut metrins metrîz metrint
subjunctive ki dj' ki t' k' i (il) / k' ele ki dj' / ki nos ki vos k' i (il)
present mete metes mete metanxhe metoxhe metnuxhe or metèxhe
present metaxhe metaxhes metaxhe metinxhe metîxhe metinxhe
imperative — tu — dji / nos vos —
affirmative mete metans metoz

West MakianEdit

EtymologyEdit

Likely cognate with Ternate mote (“to follow”).

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

mete

  1. (transitive) to follow

ConjugationEdit

Conjugation of mete (action verb)
singular plural
inclusive exclusive
1st person temete memete amete
2nd person nemete femete
3rd person inanimate imete demete
animate
imperative nemete, mete femete, mete

ReferencesEdit

  • Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎[3], Pacific linguistics
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=mete&oldid=66391789"