Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “meet” come from?

Meet comes from Middle English meten, formed with the Middle English suffix -en, from Latin meta meaning "to measure," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European meh₂d- meaning "to measure."

meet (English): To make contact while in proximity; To gather...

Definitions

  1. To make contact while in proximity; To gather...

Ancestry of “meet”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishmetento meet, come together; to paint; to sculpt;...
2Middle English-enDenotes the past participle form when attached to...
3Old English-enmæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;...
4Old Norse-innUsed to create adjectives from nouns, meaning...
5Proto-Norse-īna-—
6Proto-Germanic-īnaz-en
7Proto-Indo-European-iHnosCreates adjectives of materials
8Proto-Indo-European-no-adjectival suffix

Words derived from “meet”

  • meeting
  • meetings
  • mete
  • meetinghouse
  • meetness
  • meetest
  • meeteth
  • meeter
  • meetly
  • meetcha
  • premeeting
  • meteth
  • postmeeting
  • metest
  • metely
  • meeten
  • metage
  • unmeetable
  • meteyard
  • remeet
  • metewand
  • nonmeeting
  • midmeeting
  • mismeeting
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -no- →