meet

Pronunciation

• IPA: /miːt/^[1]

meet¹ come together

Etymology

To come together is inherited from Middle English meten, inherited from Old English mētan (“to find, come upon, encounter”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *mōtijaną,^[2][3] a derivative of the noun that gave Old English gemōt (“meeting, assembly”).^[3][5][6] Its cognates include Old Norse mœta (“to meet”) and Old Saxon mōtian (“to meet”), and Gothic has gamōtjan, “to meet”.^[3][2][6] Outside Germanic, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster compare Armenian matčim, “I approach”,^[3][6] and Etymonline gives a root Proto-Indo-European *mod- (“to meet, assemble”).^[2] It is related to moot.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To come upon, find or fall in with: Old English mētan, in Beowulf (about 725);^[3][4] Middle English meten is recorded probably before 1200, in Layamon.^[3]

Semantic evolution

By about 1300 the verb was used of things coming into contact or joining, and of people approaching each other from opposite directions or meeting in combat.^[2] The intransitive sense “to come together” is from the mid-14th century,^[2] and of members of an organized body, “to assemble”, from the 1520s.^[2] “To come upon, encounter” in the abstract (meet with approval, meet one's destiny) dates from the late 14th century,^[2] and “to satisfy, be in agreement with” (meet expectations) from the 1690s,^[2] or 1694 according to the Historical Thesaurus.^[7] Meet halfway in the figurative sense of mutual concession is from the 1620s.^[2] The noun meeting is probably from before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder.^[3] The noun meet arose in 1831–34 for a gathering of hounds and riders before a hunt,^[3][2] and was later used of cyclists, athletes and other competitors.^[2][4]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English mētan (Beowulf).^[3]
• before 1200 – Middle English meten (Layamon).^[3]
• c. 1300 – of things, to join; of people, to approach from opposite directions.^[2]
• before 1300 – meeting.^[3]
• mid-14th century – to come together.^[2]
• 1520s – of a body of members, to assemble.^[2]
• 1620s – meet halfway.^[2]
• 1690s – to satisfy (meet expectations).^[2]
• 1831 – noun, a meet of hounds.^[2][3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To come upon by chance or by arrangement.
2. To be present at the arrival of: meet the train.
3. To be introduced to.
4. To come into contact or conjunction with; to join.
5. To come together; to assemble.
6. To experience or undergo: met with disaster.
7. To deal with or satisfy: meet the demand.
8. To come together as opponents.

Noun

1. A meeting or competition, especially in athletics.
2. A gathering of hounds and riders for a hunt.
3. (mathematics) A point of intersection; the intersection of sets.

Word family

• meeting
• meeter

meet² fitting, proper

Etymology

The adjective “fitting” is inherited from Middle English mete, shortened from earlier imete,^[5] inherited from Old English gemǣte (“suitable, of the same dimensions”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *ga-mētijaz,^[2] formed from the collective prefix *ga- and the base of mete, “to measure”.^[5][4][8] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to take appropriate measures”).^[2][9] Its cognates include Old High German gamāzi (“suitable”) and German gemäß (“in accordance with”).^[3][5][2] Hoad and Etymonline note that its root sense, “commensurate”, matches the formation of commensurate.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having the right shape or size, made to fit: about 1300.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Old English gemǣte meant “commensurate”,^[4] and it is first recorded about 961.^[3] “Proper, appropriate” is from the early 14th century,^[2] and “fit (to do something)” from the late 14th century.^[2] The King James Bible has It is not meet to take the children's bread.^[4] The word is now archaic.^[4][10]

Timeline

• c. 961 – Old English gemǣte.^[3]
• c. 1300 – made to fit.^[2]
• early 14th century – proper, appropriate.^[2]
• late 14th century – fit to do something.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. (archaic) Fitting, proper or suitable.

Word family

• meetly
• meetness

Related words

• moot
• mete
• met

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin