meta Italian · revision 38526

+ {{homograph|1|goal}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1321, Dante|origins=la meta}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmɛ.ta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''meta''' ''f'' (plural mete)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The goal or destination is [[bor|la|mēta|t=cone-shaped object; turning post in the circus]], a learned word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) 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”.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The popular continuation of the same Latin word is [[meta#2]] “heap”, and [[es|meta]] has the learned sense too.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The origin of the Latin noun is uncertain.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) De Vaan suggests that it is a derivative of [[ine-pro|*meh₁-|t=to measure]], the root of [[m|la|mētior|t=to measure]], if the post was used from the start as a mark for measuring.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Older comparisons with [[sa|मेथि|tr=méthi|t=post]] and [[lt|mietas|t=stake]] are recorded by Nocentini and the OLD, but de Vaan finds the link with [[ine-pro|*meitH-|t=to exchange]] unconvincing.^(Nocentini 2010)^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==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.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Zingarelli dates the word to 1319.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==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''.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2440) The sense “end point” (before 1569, Bernardo Tasso) and the figurative “aim, goal” (16th century) are the ones in daily use now.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ 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''.^(Prati 1951)^(DEI|2440)^(GRADIT 2003) In rugby ''meta'' is a try, scored by grounding the ball beyond the opponents' line, a sense DELI calls peculiar.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1319 – Zingarelli's date for the word.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses ''meta'' for a boundary.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1481 – Landino explains the circus ''meta''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 16th century – It is used for an aim or goal.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ * Before 1569 – Bernardo Tasso uses it for an end point.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 16th century – ''Meta'' is recorded for a fixed maximum price.^(Prati 1951)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|destination]], the place one is heading for: ''Dopo tre giorni di cammino raggiungemmo la meta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' An [[m|en|aim]], [[m|en|goal]]: ''La sua meta era aprire un piccolo ristorante.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(rugby)'' A [[m|en|try]], scored by grounding the ball beyond the opponents' line.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(Roman antiquity)'' Each of the conical posts at the ends of the circus [[spina]] around which the chariots turned; any conical or pyramidal structure.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(obsolete, regional)'' A maximum price fixed by the authorities for food, especially bread.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ {{homograph|2|heap, dung}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1424|origins=la meta}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈme.ta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''meta''' ''f'' (plural mete)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The heap is [[inh|la|mēta|t=cone; heap, stack]], the popular continuation of the Latin word that also gave [[meta#1]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Columella and Pliny already used the Latin word for a conical haystack.^(DEI|2440) The same word is [[fro|moie]], [[es|meda]], [[pt|meda]] and [[sc|meda|t=much]], and in Italy [[vec|meda]] and [[fur|mede]], with the voiced consonant of the north.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2440)

+

+ Migliorini noted that the learned sense “goal” survived among the people only in children's games, such as [[vec|mèa]], while the rustic senses “stack, heap of hay, piece of dung” stayed very much alive.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DEI records a Viterbese ''méta'', a heap of sheaves, in 1237 and dates the farming word to the 14th century.^(DEI|2440) GRADIT's first date is before 1424.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==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.^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) 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.^(DEI|2440)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Pascoli writes of two round ''mete'' of ears raised in every field.^(GRADIT 2003) Serbo-Croatian borrowed the word as ''méta''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1237 – A Viterbese ''méta'' “heap of sheaves” is recorded.^(DEI|2440)

+ * Before 1424 – GRADIT's first date for the word.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 15th century – ''Meta'' is recorded for animal dung.^(DEI|2440)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(regional, Tuscany)'' A conical [[m|en|stack]] of grain, hay, straw or manure raised in the fields.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A dropping of [[m|en|dung]] from a large animal: ''Attento alla meta di cavallo sul sentiero!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[metato]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|meta]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The two words differ in pronunciation: the goal has an open /ɛ/, the heap a closed /e/.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) ''Meta'' (masculine, invariable) is also the trade name of metaldehyde, a solid fuel, a shortening of ''metaldeide'' registered in Switzerland in 1924 and recorded in Italian in 1931.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}