mete

M3E1T1E1
/miːt/

verb

To dispense, measure in order to dispense, allot (especially punishment, reward etc.).

Similar
boundary lineborderborderlinedelimitation
OriginMiddle English meten ← Old English metan ← Proto-West Germanic *metan →
UncommonScrabble 6
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Meanings

mete1

verbmete (third-person singular simple present metes, present participle meting, simple past and past participle meted)

present singular third person metes · participle present meting · participle past meted · past meted

  1. transitiveusuallyTo dispense, measure in order to dispense, allot (especially punishment, reward etc.).

    Match'd with an agèd wife, I mete and dole Unequal laws unto a savage race

    1833, Alfred Tennyson, Ulysses
    3 more examples

    Every generation metes out substantially the same punishment to those who fall far below and those who rise high above its standards.

    1929, Kirby Page, Jesus Or Christianity A Study In Contrasts, page 31

    For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 7:2

    the Power that fashions man Measured not out thy little span For thee to take the meting-rod In turn,

    1870s Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Soothsay, lines 80-83

mete2

nounmete (plural metes)

plural metes

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

mete3

adjectivemete (comparative more mete, superlative most mete)

comparative more mete · superlative most mete

  1. obsoleteObsolete spelling of meet (“suitable, fitting”).

    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.

    1570, Margaret Ascham, Roger Ascham, The Scholemaster, foreword

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna line that indicates a boundary

Similar
boundary lineborderborderlinedelimitation
Broader
boundaryboundbounds
Also see
borderborderlinedelimitationquantify

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

mete · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*med-“to measure, consider”
  2. Proto-Germanic*metaną“to measure”
  3. Proto-West Germanic*metan
  4. Old Englishmetan“to measure, mete out, mark off, compare, estimate; pass over, traverse”
  5. Middle Englishmeten
  6. Englishmete

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”).

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mete · noun

  1. Latinmēta“post, goal, marker”
  2. Old Frenchmete“boundary, boundary marker”
  3. Middle Englishmete
  4. Englishmete

From Middle English mete, from Old French mete (“boundary, boundary marker”), from Latin mēta (“post, goal, marker”). Cognate with the second element in Old English wullmod (“distaff”).

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mete · adjective

  1. Old Englishmǣte
  2. Middle Englishmete
  3. Englishmete

From Middle English mete, imete, from Old English mǣte, ġemǣte (“moderate, suitable”). More at meet.

More words from Middle English, Old English

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Translations

Bulgarian отмервам, гра́ница
  • отмервам (otmervam)To measure
  • гра́ница (gránica)boundary or other limit
  • преде́л (predél)boundary or other limit
Czech měřit, odměřit
  • měřitTo measure
  • odměřitTo measure
  • přidělitTo dispense
Finnish mitata, jakaa
  • mitataTo measure
  • jakaaTo dispense
Latin mētior, tribuō
  • mētiorTo measure
  • tribuōTo dispense
  • līmēsboundary or other limit
  • limbusboundary or other limit
  • terminusboundary or other limit
Polish mierzyć, zmierzyć
  • mierzyćTo measure
  • zmierzyćTo measure
  • pomierzyćTo measure
  • wymierzaćTo dispense
  • wymierzyćTo dispense
Spanish medir, extender
  • medirTo measure
  • extenderTo dispense
  • dispensarTo dispense
Swedish mäta, måtta
  • mätaTo measure
  • måttaTo dispense

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with mete

completestreetmeetfeetsuitesheetheatdeletesweeteatseattreatconcretereceiptrepeatelitefleetcheatpetecompetewheatincompletedefeatretreat
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

meatmeetmeatmeetmeatmeet

Anagrams

meetteemtemeetem
Cite this entry
APA

mete. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mete

MLA

“mete.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mete. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mete,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mete.

Source: mete on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.