English

Proper noun

Meta

1. A city in Missouri.

Danish

Proper noun

Meta

1. A female given name, a 19th century variant of Mette (=Margaret).

German

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Meta

1. A female given name, a variant of Margarete ( =Margaret) popular in Germany around 1900.

Italian

Proper noun

Meta ?

1. A small town in the province of Napoli

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛtə/, [ˈmɛɾə]

Adjective

meta ‎(comparative more meta, superlative most meta)

1. (informal) Self-referential; at a higher level.

   Suppose you have a genie that grants you three wishes. If you wish for infinite wishes, that is a meta wish.‎

   • 2002, Robert C. Neville, Religion in Late Modernity, ISBN 079145424X, page 31:

     […] in finessing obligations you fail a "meta" kind of obligation.

   • 2006, Brendan Vaughan, What Would MacGyver Do?, ISBN 1594630240, page 186:

     Besides, I can just hear Vaughan: "Very funny, Stacey, very Charlie Kaufman-esque, very meta, very '97. I can't use it."

See also

• transcendental
• self-aware

Etymology 2

From Latin mēta.

Noun

meta ‎(plural metas)

1. Boundary marker.
2. Either of the conical columns at each end of a Roman circus.

Anagrams

• mate, maté, meat, tame, team

Basque

Noun

meta

1. heap

Czech

Etymology

From Latin mēta.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛta/

Noun

meta f

1. frontier, goal, objective, ambition
2. (softball, baseball) base

Declension

Synonyms

• cíl

References

1. ↑ meta in Jiří Rejzek, Český etymologický slovník, electronic version, Leda, 2007

Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse meta, from Proto-Germanic *metaną, from Proto-Indo-European *med-.

Verb

meta ‎(third person singular past indicative metti or metaði, third person plural past indicative mett or metað, supine mett or metað)

1. to measure, to esteem, to consider

Conjugation

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛːta/

  Rhymes: -ɛːta

Etymology 1

From Old Norse meta, from Proto-Germanic *metaną.

Verb

meta ‎(strong verb, third-person singular past indicative mat, third-person plural past indicative mátu, supine metið)

1. to measure
2. to assess
3. to appreciate, to esteem, to consider to be of worth

Conjugation

Etymology 2

Noun

meta

1. indefinite genitive plural of met

Italian

Etymology

From Latin.

Noun

meta f ‎(plural mete)

1. destination
2. aim, goal, end
3. (rugby) try
4. (soccer) goal
5. (archaeology) meta

Noun

meta f ‎(plural mete)

1. pile of straw
2. haystack
3. dung (of a farm animal)

Noun

meta m ‎(invariable)

1. (organic chemistry) metaldehyde

Anagrams

• team, tema

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *mētā, from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- ("to measure"), related to Ancient Greek μῆτις ‎(mêtis), μέτρον ‎(métron), μέτριος ‎(métrios), Old Church Slavonic мѣра ‎(měra), compare Hungarian mér, Russian мера ‎(méra), Serbo-Croatian mera and mjera, English meal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeː.ta/

Noun

mēta f ‎(genitive mētae); first declension

1. cone, pyramid
2. turning point, winning post (pillar at each end of the Circus route)
3. boundary limit
4. (figuratively) goal, end, limit, turning point
5. vocative singular of mēta

mētā f

1. ablative singular of mēta

Inflection

First declension.

Related terms

• mētārī
• mētātor
• mētīrī

Descendants

• Czech: meta
• German: Miete
• Italian: meta
• Polish: meta
• Portuguese: meta
• Spanish: meta

Latvian

Verb

meta

1. 3rd person singular past indicative form of mest
2. 3rd person plural past indicative form of mest

Lithuanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmʲæːt̪ɐ]

Verb

mẽta

1. third-person singular present tense of mesti.
2. third-person plural present tense of mesti.

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic متى (matā).

Pronoun

meta

1. when

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛta/

Noun

meta f

1. (sports) finish line

   Był tak wyczerpany, że ledwo dobiegł do mety.‎

   He was so tired that he hardly reached the finish line.

2. (colloquial) familiar store or restaurant
3. (colloquial) place where one can stay for a short while
4. (colloquial) place where alcohol is illegally sold or drunk
5. (bodybuilding slang) methandrostenolone, an anabolic steroid

Declension

Portuguese

Etymology 1

From Latin meta ‎(“turning spot in arena; goal”).

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛtɐ/

Noun

meta f (plural metas)

1. goal.
2. target.

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• mêta (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmetɐ/

Verb

meta

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of meter
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of meter
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of meter
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of meter

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Italian meta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /měːta/
• Hyphenation: me‧ta

Noun

méta f ‎(Cyrillic spelling ме́та)

1. target

Declension

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *męta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈméːta/
• Tonal orthography: mẹ̑ta

Noun

méta f ‎(genitive méte, nominative plural méte)

1. mint (plant)

Declension

Spanish

Etymology 1

From Latin meta ‎(“turning spot in arena; goal”).

Noun

meta f ‎(plural metas)

1. goal
2. target

Etymology 2

Verb

meta

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of meter.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of meter.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of meter.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of meter.

Swedish

Verb

meta ‎(present metar, preterite metade, supine metat, imperative meta)

1. to angle for fish

Conjugation

Related terms

• metspö