mete1
[meet]
- to distribute or apportion by measure; allot; dole (usually followed by out): to mete out punishment.
- Archaic. to measure.
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Origin of mete1
before 900; Middle English; Old English metan; cognate with Dutch meten, Old Norse meta, Gothic mitan, German messen to measure, Greek mḗdesthai to ponder
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
parcel, deal, give, ration, share, dole, portion, lot, measure, divide, allocate, allot, allow, apportion, assign, dispense, admeasureExamples from the Web for meted
Contemporary Examples
The unfortunate reality is that race, gender, and economic status do matter when justice is meted out.
It is not a scarce commodity to be meted out begrudgingly or in short portions.
The Heroic Lesbian Couple of Oklahoma Who Fought for Equal Marriage—and WonRandy R. Potts
October 7, 2014
Draconian punishments were meted out to supposed sinners and traitors.
Saddam’s Former Deputy, the Red Skull of Baghdad, Still at Large in Iraq and Allied With ISISJacob Siegel, Christopher Dickey
July 21, 2014
As the last line of defense, the goalkeeper is also first in the firing line when blame and retribution are meted out.
Historical Examples
The measure which he meted to others was in turn accorded to himself.
Aztec LandMaturin M. Ballou
With what measure they had meted out, it had been measured back to them again!
Sir Henry Morgan, BuccaneerCyrus Townsend Brady
What would become of his family if justice was meted out to him?
Ox-Team Days on the Oregon TrailEzra Meeker
Severe punishment was meted out when ammunition was thrown away.
Charles Carleton CoffinWilliam Elliot Griffis, D. D.
Yahwe's blessings are meted out in this world, but not in Sheol.
The Religion of Babylonia and AssyriaMorris Jastrow
mete1
- (usually foll by out) formal to distribute or allot (something, often unpleasant)
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- poetic, dialect (to) measure
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Word Origin
Old English metan; compare Old Saxon metan, Old Norse meta, German messen to measure
mete2
- rare a mark, limit, or boundary (esp in the phrase metes and bounds)
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Word Origin
C15: from Old French, from Latin mēta goal, turning post (in race)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for meted
mete
v.
"to allot," Old English metan "to measure, mete out; compare, estimate" (class V strong verb; past tense mæt, past participle meten), from Proto-Germanic *metanan (cf. Old Saxon metan, Old Frisian, Old Norse meta, Dutch meten, Old High German mezzan, German messen, Gothic mitan "to measure"), from PIE *med- "to take appropriate measures" (see medical). Used now only with out. Related: Meted; meting.
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mete
n.
"boundary," now only in phrase metes and bounds, late 15c., from Old French mete "limit, bounds, frontier," from Latin meta "goal, boundary, post, pillar."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper