Word Confusion: Meat vs Meet vs Mete

Posted March 5, 2018 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
19 Jan 2023

When shall we three meat again? For it is meet that we mete.

Er, that just doesn’t sound right, does it? Maybe we could mete instead. Then again, sounds like we’re making a judgment, deciding what’s fitting or proper.

Perhaps we should meet to decide what is mete. Then we could have a lovely meat sandwich, as we contemplate this trio of heterographs.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Meat	Meet	Mete
Meat Products at a Grocery Store by US Department of Agriculture is in the public domain, via Flickr. — These cuts of meat are making me hungry.	President Jacob Zuma Meets with Finance Team, 10 Apr 2017, by Government ZA is under the CC BY-ND 2.0 license, via Flickr.	Gavel by Pearson Scott Foresman is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — I disagree with this judge’s metes and bounds.
Part of Grammar:
Noun Plural: meats	Adjective ¹; Noun ²; Verb ², intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: meets Gerund: meeting Third person present verb: meets Past tense or past participle: met Present participle: meeting	Noun ¹; Verb, transitive ² Plural for the noun: metes Gerund: meting Third person present verb: metes Past tense or past participle: meted Present participle: meting
The flesh of an animal (especially a mammal) as food The flesh of a person’s body [North American] The edible part of fruits or nuts [the meat of] The essence or chief part of something [Archaic] Food of any kind	Adjective: [Archaic] Suitable ¹ Fitting Proper Noun: An organized event at which a number of races, hunts, or other sporting contests are held ² Those assembled The place of such an assembling [Mathematics] Intersection, i.e., the set of elements that two or more sets have in common [Mathematics] Product Verb, intransitive: Come into the presence or company of (someone) by chance or arrangement ² Make the acquaintance of someone for the first time [Of a group of people] Assemble for a particular purpose [meet with] Have a meeting with someone Play or oppose in a contest Encounter or be faced with (a particular fate, situation, attitude, or reaction) [meet with] Receive (a particular reaction) Touch Join Verb, transitive: Come into the presence or company of (someone) by chance or arrangement ² Make the acquaintance of someone for the first time Go to a place and wait there for (a person or their means of transport) to arrive Play or oppose in a contest Encounter or be faced with (a particular fate, situation, attitude, or reaction) [meet something with] Have (a particular reaction) to Touch Join Fulfill or satisfy (a need, requirement, or condition) Pay (a financial claim or obligation)	Noun: [Historical; usually metes and bounds] A boundary or boundary stone ¹ A limiting mark Verb, transitive: [mete something out] Dispense or allot justice, a punishment, or harsh treatment ² [In biblical use] Measure out
Examples:
The idiots sat there like pieces of meat. Always place meat and poultry in the refrigerator immediately. I do like the meat sandwiches at that deli in Florida. We should order assorted meats for the party. This’ll put meat on your bones! We’ll need nut meats for the cake. He did the meat of the climb on the first day. We sit down to meat! This life is meat and drink to me. He’s a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. You know what they say, one man’s meat is another man’s poison.	Adjective: It is a theater meet for great events. It is meet that you greet me. It is only meet that she should be seated first. Noun: Mom, don’t forget I have my swim meet this coming Thursday. Are you going to the track meet tomorrow? We’re set up for a meet-and-greet this afternoon. Verb, intransitive: I can meet you for lunch at 12:15. We can meet at the office party. The committee meets once a week. He will meet with the president on September 16. The Twins and Mariners will not meet again until September. We do expect to meet with a slight setback. I’m sorry if it doesn’t meet with your approval. The curtains failed to meet in the middle. Verb, transitive: She took Paul to meet her parents. I offered to meet their train. In the final match, the U.S. will meet Brazil. The Oracle had prophesied that he will meet his death. The announcement will meet with widespread protests. This policy is doing nothing to meet the needs of women. They failed to meet the noon deadline. You will have to meet all your household expenses.	Noun: “In my opinion any part of a building which is defined by metes and bounds is premises in respect of which a licence can be granted, provided it is in the justices’ opinion structurally adapted for the sale of liquor.” “I would gladly be moral and keep due metes and bounds, which I dearly love, and allow the most to the will of man; but I have set my heart on honesty in this chapter, and I can see nothing at last, in success or failure, than more or less of vital force supplied from the Eternal” (Emerson). “The master’s domain was wide and complex, yet it had its metes and bounds” (London). Verb, transitive: Punishments will be mete out to soldiers who violated army regulations. With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. “Let them live or die as luck will have it, and let Jove mete out his judgements upon the Trojans and Danaans according to his own pleasure” (Homer). “So I ask your advice how to act in this matter, and what fate I should mete out to these captives” (Baum). “But this crude outlaw was not satisfied with merely rescuing the girl, he must needs mete out justice to her noble abductor and collect in full the toll of blood which alone can atone for the insult and violence done her” (Burroughs).
Derivatives:
Adjective: meat-eating, meatier, meatiest, meatless, meaty Adverb: meatily Noun: meathead, meathook, meatiness, meatloaf, meatspace, meatball	Adverb: meetly Noun: meet-and-greet, meet-cute, meeter, meeting, meetinghouse, meetness, meetup Verb: met-cute	Adjective: unmeted
History of the Word:
Old English mete meaning food or article of food (as in sweetmeat) is of Germanic origin.	Middle English in the sense of made to fit as a shortening of Old English gemǣte, which is of Germanic origin; related to mete in terms of dispensing or allotting justice. Old English mētan meaning come upon is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch moeten, also to moot.	Old English metan meaning measure, which is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch meten and the German messen also meaning to measure, from an Indo-European root shared by the Latin meditari meaning meditate and the Greek medesthai meaning care for; related to meet in the sense of suitable, fit, or proper. Late Middle English from the Old French, which is from the Latin meta meaning boundary, goal.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

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