meta

meta¹ goal

Etymology tree of meta¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin meta

Italian meta

Pronunciation

• /ˈmɛ.ta/^[1]

Forms

meta f (plural mete)^[1]

Etymology

The goal or destination is borrowed from Latin mēta (“cone-shaped object; turning post in the circus”), a learned word.^[2][3][4][1] In Rome the word named the conical posts at the ends of the circus around which the chariots turned; from these posts came the sense “end, limit”.^[2][5][6] The popular continuation of the same Latin word is meta² “heap”, and Spanish meta has the learned sense too.^[3][1]

The origin of the Latin noun is uncertain.^[2][7] De Vaan suggests that it is a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- (“to measure”), the root of mētior (“to measure”), if the post was used from the start as a mark for measuring.^[8][1] Older comparisons with Sanskrit मेथि (méthi, “post”) and Lithuanian mietas (“stake”) are recorded by Nocentini and the OLD, but de Vaan finds the link with Proto-Indo-European *meitH- (“to exchange”) unconvincing.^[3][9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Dante uses the word for a boundary or limit (before 1321): in the Paradiso a creature “cannot hold within its meta”, its bounds.^[2][10] Zingarelli dates the word to 1319.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Cristoforo Landino explained the circus sense to Italian readers in 1481, and used meta for any conical or pyramidal structure before 1498; the 16th century also called a spire a meta.^[2][11] The sense “end point” (before 1569, Bernardo Tasso) and the figurative “aim, goal” (16th century) are the ones in daily use now.^[2][4]

From “limit” came an old regional sense, the maximum price fixed by the authorities for bread or grain, which Manzoni uses in I promessi sposi.^[12][11][4] In rugby meta is a try, scored by grounding the ball beyond the opponents' line, a sense DELI calls peculiar.^[2][13]

Timeline

• 1319 – Zingarelli's date for the word.^[7]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses meta for a boundary.^[2]
• 1481 – Landino explains the circus meta.^[2]
• 16th century – It is used for an aim or goal.^[2][13]
• Before 1569 – Bernardo Tasso uses it for an end point.^[2][4]
• 16th century – Meta is recorded for a fixed maximum price.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A destination, the place one is heading for: Dopo tre giorni di cammino raggiungemmo la meta.^[4][13][6]
2. (figurative) An aim, goal: La sua meta era aprire un piccolo ristorante.^[4][13][14]
3. (rugby) A try, scored by grounding the ball beyond the opponents' line.^[4][13][7]
4. (Roman antiquity) Each of the conical posts at the ends of the circus spina around which the chariots turned; any conical or pyramidal structure.^[4][13][5]
5. (obsolete, regional) A maximum price fixed by the authorities for food, especially bread.^[4][13][6]

meta² heap, dung

Etymology tree of meta²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin meta

Italian meta

Pronunciation

• /ˈme.ta/^[1]

Forms

meta f (plural mete)^[1]

Etymology

The heap is inherited from Latin mēta (“cone; heap, stack”), the popular continuation of the Latin word that also gave meta¹.^[3][2][4] Columella and Pliny already used the Latin word for a conical haystack.^[11] The same word is Old French moie, Spanish meda, Portuguese meda and Sardinian meda (“much”), and in Italy Venetian meda and Friulian mede, with the voiced consonant of the north.^[3][15][11]

Migliorini noted that the learned sense “goal” survived among the people only in children's games, such as Venetian mèa, while the rustic senses “stack, heap of hay, piece of dung” stayed very much alive.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEI records a Viterbese méta, a heap of sheaves, in 1237 and dates the farming word to the 14th century.^[11] GRADIT's first date is before 1424.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Tuscan writers used meta for a single dropping of a large animal: the Pataffio has “una meta di bue”, and Machiavelli and Michelangelo use the word in comic verse.^[16][10] The sense “conical stack of grain, hay or straw” lives on in Tuscany, Latium and the Naples area, and as meda “woodpile” in the Veneto and Friuli.^[11][13] Pascoli writes of two round mete of ears raised in every field.^[4] Serbo-Croatian borrowed the word as méta.^[1]

Timeline

• 1237 – A Viterbese méta “heap of sheaves” is recorded.^[11]
• Before 1424 – GRADIT's first date for the word.^[4]
• 15th century – Meta is recorded for animal dung.^[11][13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional, Tuscany) A conical stack of grain, hay, straw or manure raised in the fields.^[4][13][5]
2. A dropping of dung from a large animal: Attento alla meta di cavallo sul sentiero!^[4][13][7]

Word family

• metato