meu
English
editEtymology 1
editFrom Latin mēum (“umbelliferous plant, Meum athamanticum”), from Ancient Greek μῆον (mêon), probably from μεῖον (meîon, “lesser”) for its small size. The English form came perhaps via Middle French meu, a word with a single isolated attestation from the 14th century which only began to appear consistently from 1568, by which time the word was established in English.[1]
Alternative forms
edit- (rare) mew
Pronunciation
editNoun
editmeu (uncountable)
Translations
editReferences
edit- Meum athamanticum on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Meum athamanticum on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
- Category:Meum athamanticum on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
Etymology 2
editBorrowed from Fon mɛ̀wú (“meu”).
Alternative forms
editNoun
editmeu (plural meus)
- (historical) The second minister of the Kingdom of Dahomey.
- Coordinate term: migan
References
edit- ^ “meu, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
Anagrams
editAromanian
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Latin meus, from Proto-Italic *meos. Compare Romanian meu.
Pronoun
editmeu m (feminine mea or meaea, masculine plural mei, feminine plural meali or meale)
- my; first-person masculine singular possessive pronoun
Usage notes
editAlways preceded by 'a'- "a meu".
Related terms
editSee also
editCatalan
editEtymology 1
editInherited from Old Catalan meu, from Latin meum, from Proto-Italic *meos. The feminine form was mia in Old Catalan, but this was extended to meva or meua by analogy with the masculine form. This happened because the -u was not understood as a masculine ending anymore, having been lost in nouns (unlike Spanish, Portuguese and Italian -o).
The weak possessive mon is also from Latin meum, but as an unstressed monosyllabic form.
Pronunciation
editPronoun
editmeu (feminine meva or meua, masculine plural meus, feminine plural meves or meues)
Usage notes
edit- When preceding a noun, meu is always preceded by the appropriate definite article.
- el meu gos ― my dog
- Also used after some prepositions:
- dins meu ― inside me
- davant meu ― in front of me
Declension
editstrong/subject | weak (direct object) | weak (indirect object) | possessive | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
proclitic | enclitic | proclitic | enclitic | |||||
singular | 1st person |
standard | jo, mi3 | em, m’ | -me, ’m | em, m’ | -me, ’m | meu |
majestic1 | nós | ens | -nos, ’ns | ens | -nos, ’ns | nostre | ||
2nd person |
standard | tu | et, t’ | -te, ’t | et, t’ | -te, ’t | teu | |
formal1 | vós | us | -vos, -us | us | -vos, -us | vostre | ||
very formal2 | vostè | el, l’ | -lo, ’l | li | -li | seu | ||
3rd person |
m | ell | el, l’ | -lo, ’l | li | -li | seu | |
f | ella | la, l’4 | -la | li | -li | seu | ||
n | ho | -ho | li | -li | seu | |||
plural | ||||||||
1st person | nosaltres | ens | -nos, ’ns | ens | -nos, ’ns | nostre | ||
2nd person |
standard | vosaltres | us | -vos, -us | us | -vos, -us | vostre | |
formal2 | vostès | els | -los, ’ls | els | -los, ’ls | seu | ||
3rd person |
m | ells | els | -los, ’ls | els | -los, ’ls | seu | |
f | elles | les | -les | els | -los, ’ls | seu | ||
3rd person reflexive | si | es, s’ | -se, ’s | es, s’ | -se, ’s | seu | ||
adverbial | ablative/genitive | en, n’ | -ne, ’n | |||||
locative | hi | -hi |
1 Behaves grammatically as plural. 2 Behaves grammatically as third person.
3 Only as object of a preposition. 4 Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.
See also
editEtymology 2
editAlternative forms
editPronunciation
editInterjection
editmeu
Noun
editmeu m (plural meus)
Etymology 3
editAlternative forms
editPronunciation
editNoun
editmeu m (plural meus)
Further reading
edit- “meu”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April
- “meu” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Fala
editEtymology
editFrom Old Galician-Portuguese medo, inherited from Latin metus.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editmeu m (plural meus)
References
editGalician
editEtymology
editInherited from Old Galician-Portuguese meu, from Latin meus.
Pronunciation
editDeterminer
editmeu m (masculine plural meus, feminine singular miña, feminine plural miñas)
- First-person singular possessive determiner.
- my (belonging to, associated with, related to, or in the possession of me)
- Este é o meu coche ― This is my car
- my (belonging to, associated with, related to, or in the possession of me)
Usage notes
editUsually Galician possessives must be preceded by the definite or indefinite article:
- María é a miña moza ― María is my girlfriend
- Este é o meu can ― This is my dog
- Un meu can foi campión o ano pasado ― A dog of mine was last year's champion
- Unha miña tía traballou na Antártida ― An uncle of mine worked at the Antarctic
There are exception when used as a vocative or when implying familiarity:
- Meu amigo, non vaias aló! ― Don't go there, my friend!
- Miña nai está enferma ― My mom is sick
Pronoun
editmeu m (masculine plural meus, feminine singular miña, feminine plural miñas)
- First-person singular possessive pronoun.
Interjection
editmeu
- man; dude; pal; bro
- Éche o que hai, meu. Hai que roelo ― Things are like that, bro. You must face it
- Meu! Fixéchelo! ― Dude! You did it!
See also
editsingular | plural | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | masculine | feminine | |||
singular |
first person | meu | miña | meus | miñas | |
second person | teu | túa | teus | túas | ||
third person | any | seu | súa | seus | súas | |
m | del | |||||
f | dela | |||||
plural |
first person | noso | nosa | nosos | nosas | |
second person | voso | vosa | vosos | vosas | ||
third person | any | seu | súa | seus | súas | |
m | deles | |||||
f | delas |
References
edit- “meu”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
- Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “meu”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “meu”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “meu”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “meu”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “meu”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN
Ligurian
editEtymology
editFrom Ancient Greek μῶλος (môlos), μόλος (mólos), itself from Latin mōlēs.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editmeu m (invariable)
- jetty, pier, mole
- 1984, “Sidón”, in Fabrizio De André (lyrics), Mauro Pagani (music), Crêuza de mâ [Muletrack by the sea], performed by Fabrizio De André:
- E dòpp'i færi in gôa, i færi da prixón / e 'nte ferîe a seménsa velenóza da deportaçión / perché de nòstro, da-a cianûa a-o meu / no peu ciù crésce ni èrbo, ni spîga, ni figeu
- And after the iron in the throat, the iron of the prison, and the poisonous seed of deportation inside the wounds, because no tree, or spike, or boy of ours is allowed to grow any longer, from the plain to the pier
Old Catalan
editEtymology
editAdjective
editmeu (feminine mia, masculine plural meus, feminine plural mies)
Descendants
edit- Catalan: meu
Old French
editAlternative forms
edit- meü (diaereses not universally used in transcriptions of Old French)
Verb
editmeu
- past participle of movoir
Portuguese
editAlternative Forms
editEtymology
editFrom Old Galician-Portuguese meu, from Latin meus, from Proto-Italic *meos.
Pronunciation
edit
- (Alentejo, Algarve, Azores, Madeira, unstressed) IPA(key): [me]
- Hyphenation: meu
Audio (São Paulo): (file)
Determiner
editmeu (feminine minha, masculine plural meus, feminine plural minhas)
- my (belonging to, associated with, related to, or in the possession of me)
- O meu computador deu tela azul. ― My computer bluescreened.
- Ainda não recebi o meu dinheiro. ― I still haven't received my money.
- O meu pai veio me visitar. ― My father came to visit me.
- Tenho que devolver os meus livros pra biblioteca logo.
- I have to take my books back to the library soon.
- 2002, Maria Cecília de Souza Minayo, Carlos E. A. Coimbra Jr., Antropologia, Saúde e Envelhecimento, SciELO Books, Editora FIOCRUZ, →ISBN, page 81:
- Ah, hoje o individualismo tomou conta da população. Cada um ‘primeiro eu’, depois eu, depois eu, depois eu, depois a minha mãe... e olhe lá. E olhe lá... Não, hoje a coisa tá desse jeito. Por incrível que pareça... é verdade.
- Today, individualism has taken over the population. Everyone ‘me first’, then me, then me, then me, then my mother... at best. At best... No, that's the way it is today. Incredible as it may seem... it's true.
- 2007, Robson André, Inutaoshi: "A Presa do Lobo", Clube de Autores, page 141:
- Retirei o meu obi, junto com Ootsuka, e o depositei sobre o capim baixo. Arrumei o meu kimono, que estava em farrapos, junto ao corpo e comecei a vestir a minha proteção.
- I took off my obi, along with Ootsuka, and laid it on the low grass. I arranged my kimono, which was in tatters, next to my body and began to put on my protection.
- 2012, Vanessa de Oliveira, Psicopatas do coração, Matrix Editora, →ISBN, page 110:
- Liguei meu notebook para ver as mensagens do dia. Aos poucos eu estava voltando a responder os e-mails de meus leitores.
- I turned on my laptop to check the day's messages. Little by little I was getting back to answering my readers' emails.
- 2015, György Dragomán, O Rei Branco, Editora Intrinseca, →ISBN, page 85:
- […] abriu a gaveta do armário, pegou um alfinete de segurança, parou diante de mim, tirou a medalha da minha mão e se curvou e a pôs no meu colete, […]
- […] opened the cupboard drawer, took out a safety pin, stopped in front of me, took the medal from my hand and bent down and put it in my vest, […]
Pronoun
editmeu (feminine minha, masculine plural meus, feminine plural minhas)
- mine (used predicatively)
- A casa em si é minha, mas o terreno não é.
- The house itself is mine, but the land isn't.
- mine (used absolutely, set off from the sentence)
- Minha por só uma semana, a caneta-tinteiro já parece um velho amigo.
- Mine for only a week so far, the fountain pen already feels like an old friend.
Noun
editmeu m (plural meus, feminine minha, feminine plural minhas)
- (with the definite article) mine (used substantively, with an implied noun)
- Não tenho muito, mas o meu é suficiente para se viver.
- I don't have much, but mine is enough to live on.
Interjection
editmeu!
- (Portugal, Brazil, slang, chiefly São Paulo) hey; oi (used vocatively to draw someone’s attention)
- (Brazil, slang) whoa (used to express surprise)
- (Portugal, slang) dude
See also
editsingular possessum | plural possessum | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | masculine | feminine | |||
singular possessor |
first person | meu | minha | meus | minhas | |
second person | teu | tua | teus | tuas | ||
third person | any | seu | sua | seus | suas | |
m | dele | |||||
f | dela | |||||
plural possessor |
first person | nosso | nossa | nossos | nossas | |
second person | vosso | vossa | vossos | vossas | ||
third person | any | seu | sua | seus | suas | |
m | deles | |||||
f | delas |
Romanian
editAlternative forms
edit- meŭ — old orthography
Etymology
editInherited from Latin meus, from Proto-Italic *meos.
Pronunciation
editDeterminer
editmeu m or n (feminine singular mea, masculine plural mei, feminine and neuter plural mele)
Declension
editsingular | plural | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | |||
nominative- accusative |
indefinite | meu | mea | mei | mele | |||
definite | — | — | — | — | ||||
genitive- dative |
indefinite | meu | mele | mei | mele | |||
definite | — | — | — | — |
Pronoun
editmeu m or n
- (preceded by "al") mine
See also
editSardinian
editEtymology
editPronunciation
editPronoun
editmeu (plural meos, feminine mea, feminine plural meas)
Related terms
editSassarese
editPronunciation
editDeterminer
editmeu (feminine singular mea, plural mei)
- Alternative form of méiu
- 1989, Giovanni Maria Cherchi, “Turrendi a bidda mea [Going back to my town]”, in La poesia di l'althri (overall work in Italian and Sassarese), Sassari: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, page 89:
- E canti volthi, o bidda mea natiba,
soggu giuntu a zirchà
da te li cosi mei chi v’aggiu pessu- And how many times, o native town of mine, have I come to you looking for the things that I have lost here
- 2020 March 25, Ignazio Sanna, “Di nomme fozzu Asdrubale [My name is Asdrubale]”, in Ignazio Sanna - Prosa e poesia in sassarese[2]:
- Lu méu nascimèntu l’abìa dinunziaddu sóru in municipiu
- She [my mother] declared my birth only at the register office
Pronoun
editmeu m (feminine singular mea, masculine and feminine plural mei)
- Alternative form of méiu
References
edit- Rubattu, Antoninu (2006) Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes
Zou
editEtymology
editOnomatopoeic. Compare Khumi Chin mibawi and Chinese 貓 / 猫 (māo).
Noun
editmeu
References
edit- Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 65
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/uː
- Rhymes:English/uː/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English terms borrowed from Fon
- English terms derived from Fon
- English countable nouns
- English terms with historical senses
- English onomatopoeias
- en:Animal sounds
- en:Celery family plants
- Aromanian terms inherited from Latin
- Aromanian terms derived from Latin
- Aromanian terms inherited from Proto-Italic
- Aromanian terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Aromanian lemmas
- Aromanian pronouns
- Aromanian possessive pronouns
- Catalan terms inherited from Old Catalan
- Catalan terms derived from Old Catalan
- Catalan terms inherited from Latin
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan terms inherited from Proto-Italic
- Catalan terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan terms with audio pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan pronouns
- Catalan possessive pronouns
- Catalan terms with usage examples
- Catalan onomatopoeias
- Catalan interjections
- Catalan nouns
- Catalan countable nouns
- Catalan masculine nouns
- Catalan terms borrowed from Latin
- ca:Selineae tribe plants
- Fala terms inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Fala terms derived from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Fala terms inherited from Latin
- Fala terms derived from Latin
- Fala terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Fala/eu̯
- Rhymes:Fala/eu̯/1 syllable
- Fala lemmas
- Fala nouns
- Fala countable nouns
- Fala masculine nouns
- Galician terms inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Galician terms derived from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Galician terms inherited from Latin
- Galician terms derived from Latin
- Galician terms with IPA pronunciation
- Galician lemmas
- Galician pronouns
- Galician possessive pronouns
- Galician terms with usage examples
- Galician interjections
- Ligurian terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Ligurian terms derived from Latin
- Ligurian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Ligurian lemmas
- Ligurian nouns
- Ligurian masculine nouns
- Ligurian terms with quotations
- lij:Nautical
- Old Catalan terms inherited from Latin
- Old Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Old Catalan lemmas
- Old Catalan adjectives
- Old Catalan possessive adjectives
- Old French non-lemma forms
- Old French past participles
- Portuguese terms inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Portuguese terms derived from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Portuguese terms inherited from Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from Latin
- Portuguese terms inherited from Proto-Italic
- Portuguese terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Portuguese 1-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese terms with audio pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese determiners
- Portuguese terms with usage examples
- Portuguese terms with quotations
- Portuguese pronouns
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese masculine nouns
- Portuguese interjections
- European Portuguese
- Brazilian Portuguese
- Portuguese slang
- Paulista Portuguese
- Romanian terms inherited from Latin
- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian terms inherited from Proto-Italic
- Romanian terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Romanian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Romanian terms with audio pronunciation
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian determiners
- Romanian possessive determiners
- Romanian pronouns
- Romanian possessive pronouns
- Sardinian terms inherited from Latin
- Sardinian terms derived from Latin
- Sardinian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Sardinian lemmas
- Sardinian pronouns
- Sassarese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Sassarese lemmas
- Sassarese determiners
- Sassarese possessive determiners
- Sassarese terms with quotations
- Sassarese pronouns
- Sassarese possessive pronouns
- Zou onomatopoeias
- Zou lemmas
- Zou nouns
- zom:Felids