meta Latin · revision 3495

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=Cato|origins=ine-pro *meh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈmeː.ta], [ˈmeː.taː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmɛː.ta], [ˈmɛː.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mēta''' ''f'' (genitive mētae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*mētā-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*meh₁-to-|t=measure]], from the root [[m|ine-pro|*meh₁-|t=to measure]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan suggests that the cone or post was used as a mark in measuring land, which would explain the verb [[metor|alt=mētor]] “to measure off”.^(de Vaan 2008) Walde–Hofmann and Pokorny connected it with a root *meitH- “to exchange”, which de Vaan finds unconvincing.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ The OLD, Georges and the TLL compare [[sa|मेथि|tr=méthi|t=pillar, post]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Cato onwards.^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler dates it from Lucretius.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its basic sense was a cone or pyramid, as Cicero's cone of the earth's shadow, and a conical haystack or heap.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) At the Circus it was the cone-shaped post at each end of the track around which the chariots turned, as in Varro and Horace.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ From the racecourse it came to mean a turning point in the course of the sun or stars, a boundary or limit, as in Virgil's “I set no bounds to their power”, and the end of a person's life.^(OLD 2012) In medieval music it was the range of a mode and a name for a clef.^(LmL) English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese borrowed it as ''meta''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the turning points of the sun.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a cone.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro describes the procession going round the ''metae'' of the Circus.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of limits and of the end of life.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(geometry)'' A [[m|en|cone]], pyramid.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A conical haystack or heap.^(Georges 1913)

+ # The turning post at each end of a racecourse.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A turning point or goal (of a heavenly body).^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|boundary]], limit, ''meta Herculea'': the Strait of Gibraltar.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The end (of life).^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, music)'' The range of a mode; a [[m|en|clef]].^(LmL)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mētālis]]

+ * [[mētula]]

+ * [[mētor]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mētior]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}