mestê

Macanese

Alternative forms

• amestê

Etymology

From Portuguese mester (“necessary”),^[1] from Old Galician-Portuguese mester. Alternative form derives from Portuguese há mester (“there is necessity”).^[2]

Predicative

mestê (negative nomestê)

1. it is needed, it is necessary^[3]

   Antonym: nuncassá

   ...mestê primêro / fazê três quatro viazi

   ...first it is needed / to make three or four trips

Derived terms

• nomestê

References

1. Batalha, Graciete Nogueira (1988) “mestê”, in Glossário do dialecto macaense: notas linguísticas, etnográficas e folclóricas [Glossary of the Macanese dialect: linguistic, ethnographic and folkloric notes], Macau: Instituto Cultural de Macau, page 483
2. Batalha, Graciete Nogueira (1988) “amestê”, in Glossário do dialecto macaense: notas linguísticas, etnográficas e folclóricas [Glossary of the Macanese dialect: linguistic, ethnographic and folkloric notes], Macau: Instituto Cultural de Macau, page 159
3. https://www.macaneselibrary.org/pub/english/uipatua.htm