μετά

See also: μέτα, μετα-, and μετά-

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• μεθ’ (meth’) — apocopic, before rough breathing
• μετ’ (met’) — apocopic, before smooth breathing
• μέτα (méta) — paroxytone
• πεδᾰ́ (pedắ) — Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, Doric

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/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /me.tá/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /meˈta/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /meˈta/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /meˈta/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /meˈta/

Preposition

μετᾰ́ • (metắ) (governs the genitive, dative, and accusative)

1. [with genitive]
   1. in the midst of, among, between, with
   2. in common, along with, by aid of
   3. concerning one's dealings with
   4. (rare) at the same time
2. (only in poetry, usually Epic) [with dative]
   1. between, among
   2. besides, over and above
3. [with accusative]
   1. as a movement into
      1. in pursuit of
   2. of sequence or succession
      1. (of a place) after, behind
      2. (time) after
      3. (worth, rank) next, after
   3. after, according to
   4. among, between

Adverb

μετᾰ́ • (metắ)

1. among them, with them
2. afterwards
3. thereafter

Derived terms

• μετᾰ- (metă-)

Descendants

• ⇒ Greek: με (me)

References

1. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “μέτα, μετά”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 936-7

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

Greek

Alternative forms

• (contraction): μετ’ (met’)
• (contraction): μεθ’ (meth’)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [me̞ˈta]
• Hyphenation: με‧τά

Adverb

μετά • (metá)

1. afterwards, later

   Θα το συζητήσουμε μετά. ― Tha to syzitísoume metá. ― We will discuss it later.

2. (with από and accusative): after

   Μετά από πέντε λεπτά, ήρθε το λεωφορείο. ― Metá apó pénte leptá, írthe to leoforeío. ― After five minutes the bus came.

Conjunction

μετά • (metá)

1. so, therefore (for consecutive statements)

   Μας έχει ξεγελάσει τόσες φορές. Μετά, πώς να του έχουμε εμπιστοσύνη;

   Mas échei xegelásei tóses forés. Metá, pós na tou échoume empistosýni?

   We have been deceived so often. So how can we have confidence in him?

Preposition

μετά • (metá)

1. after [with accusative]

   Μετά το δείπνο, έπεσα για ύπνο. ― Metá to deípno, épesa gia ýpno. ― After dinner I went to sleep.

   Το γράμμα βήτα έρχεται μετά το άλφα. ― To grámma víta érchetai metá to álfa. ― The letter beta comes after alpha.

2. with (accompanying) [with genitive]

   Ήλθε μετά της συζύγου του. ― Ílthe metá tis syzýgou tou. ― He came with his wife

3. with (manner) [with genitive]

   μετά τιμής ― metá timís ― yours sincerely (literally, “with honour”)