mete

See also: Mete, meté, metę, and mɛtɛ

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

   • 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 terms

• bemete
• mete out
• unmeted

 

Translations

To measure

• Bulgarian: отмервам (bg) (otmervam)
• 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 (pl) impf, wymierzyć (pl) pf

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

Etymology 2

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”).

Noun

mete (plural metes)

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

Etymology 3

Adjective

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.

Anagrams

• Teme, etem, meet, teem, teme

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Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɛtɛ]

Verb

mete

1. third-person singular present indicative of mést

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Dutch

Verb

mete

1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of meten

Anagrams

• meet

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Estonian

Noun

mete

1. genitive plural of mesi

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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

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈme.te/, [ˈmɛ.t̪ɛ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈme.te/, [ˈmɛː.t̪ɛ]

Verb

mete

1. second-person singular present active imperative of metō

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Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French mettre. Compare Haitian Creole mete.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mete/

Verb

mete (medial form met)

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

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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 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 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, mette

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *matiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈme.te/

Noun

mete m

1. food

   meteþearfende ― lacking food, destitute

   metenēad ― food requisite

   metesōcn ― appetite, craving

   meteclyfa ― pantry

   metefæt ― bowl, platter, dish

   metesticca ― spoon

   meteswamm ― edible mushroom

   meteþeġn ― steward

   meteþing ― food preparation, operation of cooking

   meteþiht ― well-nourished

Declension

Declension of mete (strong i-stem)

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

Derived terms

• ǣfenmete
• metelēas
• morgenmete
• nōnmete

 

Descendants

• Middle English: mete, mæte, meet, meete, mette
  • English: meat
  • Scots: mete, met, meit, mait
  • Yola: met

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Old Frisian

Alternative forms

• meit, met

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *matiz.

Noun

mete

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

Descendants

• North Frisian: meet

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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 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

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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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Serbo-Croatian

Verb

mete (Cyrillic spelling мете)

1. third-person singular present of mesti

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmete/, [ˈmet̪e]

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.

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Walloon

Etymology

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

Verb

mete

1. to put

Conjugation

   —         —   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