mete

See also: Mete, meté, metę, and mɛtɛ

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-West Germanic *metan, 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)

(transitive, usually with “out”) To dispense, measure in order to dispense, 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, page 31:
  Every generation metes out substantially the same punishment to those who fall far below and those who rise high above its standards.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 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,

Derived terms

Translations

To measure

Bulgarian: отмервам (bg) (otmervam)
Czech: měřit (cs) impf, odměřit pf
Finnish: mitata (fi)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: pîvan (ku)
Polish: mierzyć (pl) impf, zmierzyć (pl) pf, pomierzyć (pl) pf
Spanish: medir (es)
Swedish: mäta (sv)

To dispense

Czech: přidělit pf
Finnish: jakaa (fi)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: siza dan (ku), ceza kirin (ku)
Polish: wymierzać (pl) impf, wymierzyć (pl) pf
Spanish: extender (es), dispensar (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)

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

Etymology 3

Adjective

mete (comparative more mete, superlative most mete)

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈmɛtɛ]

Verb

mete

third-person singular present indicative of mést

Verb

mete

(dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of meten

Anagrams

meet

Noun

mete

genitive plural of mesi

Verb

mete

inflection of meter:
1. third-person singular present indicative
2. second-person singular imperative

Etymology

From Saint Dominican Creole French mété, from French mettre.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mete/

Verb

mete

to put
to put on

Noun

mete f

plural of meta

Anagrams

teme, temè, temé

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈme.te/, [ˈmɛt̪ɛ]

(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈme.te/, [ˈmɛːt̪e]

Verb

mete

second-person singular present active imperative of metō

Noun

metè

locative singular of mẽtas (“time”)

Noun

mẽte

vocative singular of mẽtas (“time”)

Etymology

From French mettre. Compare Haitian Creole mete.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mete/

Verb

mete (medial form met)

to put; put on
to set
to wear

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

mæte, meet, meete, meate, mette, met

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈmɛːt(ə)/, /ˈmɛt(ə)/

Noun

mete (plural metes or meten)

Food, nourishment or comestibles; that which is eaten:
- c. 1275, Judas (Roud 2964, Child Ballad 23, Trinity College MS. B.14.39)‎, folio 34, recto, lines 3-4; republished at Cambridge: Wren Digital Library (Trinity College), 2019 May 29:
  Iudaſ þou moſt to iurſelem oure mete foꝛ to bugge / þritti platen of ſelu[er] þou bere up oþi rugge […]
  "Judas, you must go to Jerusalem to buy our food; / You'll have thirty pieces of silver on your back […]
- 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)
The act of dining; a lunch.

Derived terms

Descendants

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

References

“mē̆te, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈmɛːt(ə)/

Noun

mete

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.

Alternative forms

meete

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈmɛːt(ə)/

Adjective

mete

suitable, fitting, appropriate
pleasing, accommodating, useful
right in shape or size, well-fitting

Descendants

English: meet
Scots: mete, meit

Adverb

mete

References

The Middle English Dictionary (M.E.D.)
Riverside Chaucer

Alternative forms

met, mett, mette

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *matiz.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈme.te/

Noun

mete m

food
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Saint Augustine's Soliloquies
  Ne lyst mē nāwiht ðāra metta þe ic forhātan habbe, ac mē lyst ðāra þe ic getiohhod habbe tō ætanne, ðonne ic hī gesēo.
  I desire none of those meats which I have renounced; I desire those which I have thought right to eat, when I see them.

Declension

Strong i-stem:

More information singular, plural ...

	singular	plural
nominative	mete	metas
accusative	mete	metas
genitive	metes	meta
dative	mete	metum

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Derived terms

Descendants

Middle English: mete, mæte, meet, meete, meate, mette, met
- English: meat
- Scots: mete, met, meit, mait
- Yola: maate, met

Alternative forms

meit, met

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *mati.

Noun

mete

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

Descendants

North Frisian: meet

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.t͡ʃi/
- (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.te/

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.tɨ/

Rhymes: (Brazil) -ɛt͡ʃi, (Portugal) -ɛtɨ
Hyphenation: me‧te

Verb

mete

inflection of meter:
1. third-person singular present indicative
2. second-person singular imperative

Adjective

mete

good

References

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

Verb

mete (Cyrillic spelling мете)

third-person singular present of mesti

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈmete/ [ˈme.t̪e]
Rhymes: -ete
Syllabification: me‧te

Verb

mete

inflection of meter:
1. third-person singular present indicative
2. second-person singular imperative

Romanization

mete

Romanization of 𒋼 (mete)

Etymology

From meta (“angle for fish”).

Noun

mete n

(fishing) angling for fish

Declension

More information nominative, genitive ...

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	mete	metes
singular	definite	metet	metets
plural	indefinite	meten	metens
plural	definite	metena	metenas

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Declension of mete

References

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɛt/

Verb

mete

to put

Conjugation

More information infinitive, gerund ...

		singular			plural
infinitive			mete
gerund			metant
auxiliary			aveur
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		metou		metowe
		plural		metous		metowes
		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	metèxhe or metnuxhe
	present	metaxhe	metaxhes	metaxhe	metinxhe	metîxhe	metinxhe

imperative		—	tu	—	dji / nos	vos	—
	affirmative		mete		metans	metoz

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—

— Conjugation of the verb mete in Walloon — Codjowaedje do viebe mete e walon

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈme.t̪e/

Verb

mete

(transitive) to follow

Conjugation

More information Conjugation of (action verb), singular ...

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

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References

Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎, Pacific linguistics