Etymology
Cognate with Mycenaean Greek 𐀕𐀲 (me-ta); further derivation is uncertain. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *meth₂, with the first part from *me (“with”), in which case cognates include Proto-Germanic *midi and Albanian mjet (“middle”), me.[1] See also μέχρι (mékhri, “until”) and μέσος (mésos, “middle”).
The genitive is an innovated Greek associative. The dative is from the PIE locative. The accusative is from the pre-PIE directional.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /me.tá/ → /meˈta/ → /meˈta/
Preposition
μετᾰ́ • (metá) (governs the genitive, dative, and accusative)
- [with genitive]
- in the midst of, among, between, with
- in common, along with, by aid of
- concerning one's dealings with
- (rare) at the same time
- (only in poetry, usually Epic) [with dative]
- between, among
- besides, over and above
- [with accusative]
- as a movement into
- in pursuit of
- of sequence or succession
- (of a place) after, behind
- (time) after
- (worth, rank) next, after
- after, according to
- among, between
Further reading
- “μετά”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “μετά”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “μετά”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
- μετά in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
- μετά in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
- “μετά”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
- G3326 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
- μετά in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
- Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- after idem, page 17.
- attack idem, page 49.
- conjunction idem, page 160.
- count idem, page 177.
- danger idem, page 194.
- number idem, page 563.
- reckon idem, page 679.
- since idem, page 777.
- war idem, page 962.
- with idem, page 983.
- Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN