Metis

[ mee-tis ]

nounClassical Mythology.

a Titaness, the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys and the mother of Athena by Zeus. Zeus swallowed Metis, and Athena was born from his head.

Other definitions for Métis (2 of 2)

Métis

[ Canadian mey-tee; mey-tee, -tees ]

noun,plural Mé·tis

[Canadian mey-tee, mey-teez; mey-tee, -teez]. /Canadian ˈmeɪ ti, ˈmeɪ tiz; meɪˈti, -ˈtiz/.

Canadian. a person of mixed First Nations and European ancestry: a member of the Métis Nation , recognized constitutionally as one of Canada’s rights-bearing Indigenous peoples.
métis, any person of mixed racial ancestry.

adjective

Canadian. belonging or relating to the Métis: Métis communities developed along the fur trade routes.
métis, being of mixed racial ancestry.

Origin of Métis

First recorded in 1810–20; from French, Middle French, from Late Latin mixtīcius “of mixed blood”

Also me·tis (for defs. 2, 4) .

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

How to use Metis in a sentence

Unfortunately the Colonists were not able to use the snowshoe as could the lively Metis.
The Romantic Settlement of Lord Selkirk's Colonists | George Bryce
The Metis soon betook themselves westward to their own district of Qu'Appelle.
The Romantic Settlement of Lord Selkirk's Colonists | George Bryce
Next spring another demonstration was made by the Metis for other demands, but these were refused.
The Romantic Settlement of Lord Selkirk's Colonists | George Bryce
The hot blood of the Metis as he careered over the prairie on his steed boiled up at the least provocation.
The Romantic Settlement of Lord Selkirk's Colonists | George Bryce
Stone forts and ermined judges were not, to the mind of the unbridled and ungovernable Metis.
The Romantic Settlement of Lord Selkirk's Colonists | George Bryce

British Dictionary definitions for Métis

Métis

/ (mɛˈtiːs) /

nounplural -tis (-ˈtiːs, -ˈtiːz)

a person of mixed parentage
Canadian
- the offspring or a descendant of a French Canadian and a North American Indian
- a member or descendant of a group of such people, who established themselves in Manitoba and Saskatchewan as a distinct political and cultural force during the nineteenth century

US a person having one eighth Black ancestry; octoroon

Origin of Métis

C19: from French, from Vulgar Latin mixtīcius (unattested) of mixed race; compare mestizo

Derived forms of Métis

Mtisse (mɛˈtiːs), fem n

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

Browse