Definition of 'meta'
adjective
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
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meta in British English
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C21: from meta-Meta in British English
meta- in British English
or sometimes before a vowel met-
prefix
2.
(of an academic discipline, esp philosophy) concerned with the concepts and results of the named discipline
metamathematics
meta-ethics
See also metatheory4. (often in italics)
metadinitrobenzene
meta-cresol
Abbreviation: m-. Compare ortho- (sense 4), para-1 (sense 6)Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
Greek, from meta with, after, between, among. Compare Old English mid, mith with, Old Norse meth with, between
meta- in American English
4.
used to form terms designating an area of study whose purpose is to examine the nature,
assumptions, structure, etc. of a (specified) field
metalinguistics, metacriticism
5.
between
metope
6. Chemistry
a.
a polymer of
metaldehyde
d.
characterized by substitutions in the 1, 3 position in the benzene ring
usually italicized and hyphenated in chemical names meta-aminobenzoic acid
see also para-1 (sense 2) para-1 (sense 2b), ortho- (sense 4) ortho- (sense 4b)Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
< Gr meta, along with, after, between, among < IE *meta < base *me-, between > mid1; (sense 4) < supposed analogy to metaphysicsmeta in American English 1
(ˈmitə)
nounWord forms: plural -tae (-ti)
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[1570–80; ‹ L mēta cone, turning post]meta in American English 2
(ˈmetə)
adjective
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[1875–80; independent use of meta-]Meta in American English
(ˈmitə)
noun
a female given name
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
meta- in American English
prefix
Also (esp. before a vowel): met-1.
a prefix appearing in loanwords from Greek, with the meanings “after,” “along with,” “beyond,” “among,” “behind,” and productive in English on the Greek model
metacarpus
metagenesis
metalinguistics
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[‹ Gk, prefix and prep.; c. OE mid with, G mit, Goth mith]Browse alphabetically
meta
Related terms of
meta
Source
Definition of meta from the Collins English Dictionary
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