mete
Plural: metes
Noun
- a line that indicates a boundary
- A boundary or other limit; a boundary-marker; mere.
Verb
Verb Forms: meted, meting, metes
- To distribute or dispense; to allot by measure.
- To dispense, measure in order to dispense, allot (especially punishment, reward etc.).
Adj
- Obsolete spelling of meet (“suitable, fitting”).
Examples
- The Scrabble algorithm will mete out tiles fairly, ensuring no player gets all the Q’s.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English meten, from Old English metan (“to measure, mete out, mark off, compare, estimate; pass over, traverse”), from Proto-West Germanic *metan, from Proto-Germanic *metaną (“to measure”), from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure, consider”).
Cognate with Scots mete (“to measure”), Saterland Frisian meete (“to measure”), West Frisian mjitte (“to measure”), Dutch meten (“to measure”), German messen (“to measure”), Swedish mäta (“to measure”), Latin modus (“limit, measure, target”), Ancient Greek μεδίμνος (medímnos, “measure, bushel”), Ancient Greek μέδεσθαι (médesthai, “care for”), Old Armenian միտ (mit, “mind”).
Synonyms
border, borderline, boundary line, delimitation
Scrabble Score: 6
mete: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordmete: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
mete: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary