mete

[ meet ]

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verb (used with object),met·ed, met·ing.

to distribute or apportion by measure; allot; dole (usually followed by out): to mete out punishment.
Archaic. to measure.

Origin of mete

before 900; Middle English; Old English metan; cognate with Dutch meten,Old Norse meta,Gothic mitan,German messen to measure, Greek mḗdesthai to ponder

Other words for mete

1	deal, measure, parcel

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Other words from mete

un·met·ed, adjective

Other definitions for mete (2 of 3)

mete²

[ meet ]

noun

a limiting mark.
a limit or boundary.

Origin of mete

1275–1325; Middle English <Middle French <Latin mēta goal, turning post

Other words for mete

bound

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Other definitions for Met.E. (3 of 3)

Met.E.

abbreviation

metallurgical engineer.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use mete in a sentence

“In meting out this punishment we did not take into account his past behavior,” Silver said.
The NBA’s War With Donald Sterling Is Just Getting Started | Robert Silverman | April 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Charges were filed against him, and now the institution is meting out the punishment for his actions.
Love Trumped Rules for Fired Methodist Rev. Frank Schaefer | Gene Robinson | December 20, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
In private, he fantasized about meting out violent punishment to his enemies.
The Repentant Radical | Michael Moynihan | September 17, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
We are all flawed human beings, and this is not about meting out judgment.
Anthony Weiner's Ex: He Lied to Me | Kirsten Powers | June 8, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
Being Sunday the officers had hard work to get hands for meting it was so cold nothing more this day.
The Military Journals of Two Private Soldiers, 1758-1775 | Abraham Tomlinson

Both Mukoki and Wabigoon had slipped the leashes that had long restrained them from meting first vengeance upon their enemies.
The Wolf Hunters | James Oliver Curwood
It is believed that we have lived to see the meting out of some divine awards.
Revisiting the Earth | James Langdon Hill
This last nearly brought Derby to the point of meting out punishment to the offenders.
The Title Market | Emily Post
The meting out of punishments by nines goes far back in history.
Comparative Studies in Nursery Rhymes | Lina Eckenstein

British Dictionary definitions for mete (1 of 2)

mete¹

/ (miːt) /

verb(tr)

(usually foll by out) formal to distribute or allot (something, often unpleasant)

verb, noun

poetic, dialect (to) measure

Origin of mete

Old English metan; compare Old Saxon metan, Old Norse meta, German messen to measure

British Dictionary definitions for mete (2 of 2)

mete²

/ (miːt) /

noun

rare a mark, limit, or boundary (esp in the phrase metes and bounds)

Origin of mete

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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