Mete

WOTD - 15 September 2006    

English

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

Noun

Mete (plural Metes)

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

Thesaurus

accord, administer, afford, allocate, allot, allow, apportion, appraise, appreciate, assay, assess, assign, award, bestow, bestow on, calculate, calibrate, caliper, check a parameter, communicate, compute, confer, deal, deal out, dial, disburse, dish out, dispense, disperse, dispose, distribute, divide, dole, dole out, donate, estimate, evaluate, extend, fathom, fork out, gauge, gift, gift with, give, give freely, give out, graduate, grant, hand out, heap, help to, impart, issue, lavish, let have, measure, measure out, mensurate, mete out, meter, offer, pace, parcel out, pass around, pass out, pay out, plumb, portion out, pour, present, prize, probe, proffer, quantify, quantize, rain, rate, render, serve, share out, shell out, shower, size, size up, slip, snow, sound, span, spoon out, step, survey, take a reading, tender, triangulate, valuate, value, vouchsafe, weigh, yield

Pronunciation

• IPA: /miːt/, SAMPA: /mi:t/

• Audio (US)

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  (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 *metanan (“to measure”), from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure, consider”). Cognate with Scots mete (“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”).

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").

Translations

Verb

To measure

Finnish: mitata (fi)

Kurdish: pîvan (ku)

To dispense

Finnish: jakaa (fi)

Kurdish: siza dan (ku), ceza kirin (ku)

Anagrams

• meet, teem

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Dutch

Verb

Mete

1. singular present subjunctive of meten.

Anagrams

• meet

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Haitian Creole

Verb

Mete

1. put
2. put on

Etymology

From French mettre (“put, put on”)

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Italian

Noun

mete f.

1. Plural form 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

Noun

Mete

1. food; meat.

Noun

Mete

1. boundary, target, point, position.

Adjective

mēte

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

Adverb

mēte

1. appropriately
2. copiously

Etymology 1

From Old English mete (“food”). More at meat.

Etymology 2

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

Etymology 3

From Old English ġemǣte (“suitable, meet”). More at meet.

References

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

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Old English

Noun

Mete m.

1. food

Alternative forms

• met
• mett

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *matiz.

Declension

    Declension of Mete (strong i-stem)

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

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Portuguese

Verb

Mete

1. meter.
2. meter.

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Spanish

Verb

Mete (infinitive meter)

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.