meta-

See also: meta, Meta, META, metá, méta, metà, mêta, and méta-

English

Alternative forms

• met- (prevocalic)

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛt.ə/, /ˌmɛt.ə/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈmet.ə/, /ˌmet.ə/

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek μετα- (meta-), from μετά (metá), from Mycenaean Greek 𐀕𐀲 (me-ta), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *meth₂ (“in the middle”).

Pronunciation

Only relating to metabolism:

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mɪˈta/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /məˈtæ/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /mɪˈtæ/

Prefix

meta-

2. (anatomy and zoology) Behind. [From 19th century]
4. (botany and zoology) Later or subsequent. [From 19th century]
6. (obsolete, architecture and zoology) Situated between two segments. [From 19th century]
8. (chemistry) Having fewer molecules of water than the ortho- equivalent. [From 19th century]
10. (organic chemistry) in isomeric benzene derivatives, having the two substituents in alternate (1,3) positions; contrasted with ortho- and para-. [From 1833]
12. (biochemistry) Relating to metabolism.

Translations

anatomy, zoology: behind

• Finnish: meta- (fi)
• French: méta- (fr)
• Greek: μετα- (el) (meta-)
• Russian: ме́та- (ru) (méta-)
• Spanish: mala (es)

botany, zoology: later or subsequent

• Finnish: meta- (fi)
• Greek: μετα- (el) (meta-)
• Russian: ме́та- (ru) (méta-)

chemistry: having fewer molecules of water than the ortho- equivalent

• Finnish: meta- (fi)
• Greek: μετα- (el) (meta-)
• Russian: ме́та- (ru) (méta-)
• Spanish: meta- (es)

chemistry: contrasted with ortho- and para-

• Finnish: meta- (fi)
• French: méta- (fr)
• Greek: μετα- (el) (meta-)
• Japanese: メタ (ja) (meta-)
• Russian: ме́та- (ru) (méta-)
• Spanish: meta- (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Finnish: meta- (fi)
• German: ^{(please verify)} meta- (de)
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} lýsi-
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} meiti-
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} meta- (it)
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 超 (ja) (ちょう, chō)
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} فرا (fa) (farâ), ^{(please verify)} متا (metâ)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} meta- (ro)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} meta- (es)

See also

• protero- (early, first)

Etymology 2

Back-formation from metaphysics.

Prefix

meta-

2. Transcending, encompassing.
4. Pertaining to a level above or beyond; reflexive or recursive; about itself or about other things of the same type. For example, metadata is data that describes data, metalanguage is language that describes language, etc. [From 17th century]
6. Having analogies with metaphysics.

Related terms

• epi-

Translations

transcending, encompassing

• Finnish: meta- (fi)
• French: méta- (fr)
• Georgian: მეტა- (meṭa-)
• Greek: μετα- (el) (meta-)
• Hindi: अधि- (adhi-)
• Polish: meta- (pl)
• Russian: ме́та- (ru) (méta-)

pertaining to a level above or beyond; reflexive or recursive; about itself or about other things of the same type

• Czech: meta-
• Finnish: meta- (fi)
• French: méta- (fr)
• Georgian: მეტა- (meṭa-)
• Greek: μετα- (el) (meta-)
• Hindi: अधि- (adhi-)
• Polish: meta- (pl)
• Russian: ме́та- (ru) (méta-)
• Spanish: meta- (es)

having analogies with metaphysics

• Finnish: meta- (fi)
• French: méta- (fr)
• Georgian: მეტა- (meṭa-)
• Greek: μετα- (el) (meta-)
• Polish: meta- (pl)
• Russian: ме́та- (ru) (méta-)
• Spanish: meta- (es)

Etymology 3

Back-formation from metamorphism.

Prefix

meta-

2. (geology) Modified by metamorphosis; analogies and derivatives of metamorphism. [From 19th century]

Translations

geology: analogies and derivatives of metamorphism

• Finnish: meta- (fi)
• French: méta- (fr)
• Russian: ме́та- (ru) (méta-)
• Spanish: meta- (es)

Etymology 4

Back-formation from metastasis.

Prefix

meta-

2. (pathology) Consequent on.

Translations

pathology: consequent on

• Finnish: meta- (fi)
• French: méta- (fr)
• Greek: μετα- (el) (meta-)
• Russian: ме́та- (ru) (méta-)
• Spanish: meta- (es)

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with meta-

Further reading

• List of Ancient Greek words starting with meta-, on Perseus

Anagrams

• maté, team, meat, mate, Tame, ATEM, AEMT, Atem, -mate, tame, Team, Tema

Czech

Etymology

Derived from Ancient Greek μετα- (meta-).

Prefix

meta-

1. meta- (pertaining to a level above or beyond)

   ‎meta- + ‎jazyk → ‎metajazyk

Derived terms

Czech terms prefixed with meta-

Further reading

• “meta-”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• meta- in Slovník afixů užívaných v češtině, 2017

Finnish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μετα- (meta-).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmetɑ-/, [ˈme̞t̪ɑ̝-]

Prefix

meta-

1. meta-

Derived terms

Finnish terms prefixed with meta-

German

Alternative forms

• met- (prevocalic)

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek μετα- (meta-).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeta/, /ˈmɛta/

• Audio:

  (file)

Prefix

meta-

1. meta-

Derived terms

German terms prefixed with meta-

Further reading

• “meta-” in Duden online
• “meta-” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Hungarian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μετα- (meta-).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɛtɒ]
• Hyphenation: me‧ta

Prefix

meta-

1. meta-

Derived terms

Hungarian nouns prefixed with meta-

Indonesian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μετα- (meta-).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mɛta]
• Hyphenation: mè‧ta

Prefix

meta-

1. meta-

Alternative forms

• met-

Derived terms

Category Indonesian terms prefixed with meta- not found

Further reading

• “meta-” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌmɛ.ta/
• Hyphenation: mè‧ta-

Prefix

meta-

1. meta-

Derived terms

Italian terms prefixed with meta-

Anagrams

• mate, matè, team, tema

Polish

Etymology

Derived from Ancient Greek μετα- (meta-).

Prefix

meta-

1. meta-

   ‎meta- + ‎fizyka → ‎metafizyka

Derived terms

Polish terms prefixed with meta-

Further reading

• meta- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek μετα- (meta-).

Prefix

meta-

1. meta-

Derived terms

Portuguese terms prefixed with meta-

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek μετά (metá).

Prefix

meta-

1. meta-

Derived terms

Spanish terms prefixed with meta-

Further reading

• “meta-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28