meta

adjective

\ ˈme-tə

Definition of meta

(Entry 1 of 3)

informal

1 : showing or suggesting an explicit awareness of itself or oneself as a member of its category : cleverly self-referential "The Bar?" she said. "I know the place. Been meaning to drop by. Love the name. Very meta."— Gillian Flynn The meta gift of the year: a picture of a lamp that actually lights up. Designer Finn Magee's trompe l'oeil is printed on plastic, embedded with electronics, and equipped with a cord and switch.— Karissa Bell et al. A new comedy about fantasy football, which follows a group of armchair quarterbacks as they try to tackle life. How meta would it be if people started betting on what was going to happen on the show? — TV Guide Leave it to Larry to contort public desire for a Seinfeld reunion into a meta plot that chronicles his not-necessarily-noble struggle to pull off a Seinfeld reunion.— Dan Snierson

2 : concerning or providing information about members of its own category … Slate, a Web zine published by Microsoft that devotes much of its content to what [editor Michael] Kinsley calls "meta news"—news about the news.— Rick Marin et al. Given that the coverage of any one search engine is limited, the simplest means of improving the coverage of Web search engines is to combine the results of multiple engines, as is done with meta search engines such as MetaCrawler (www.metacrawler.com).— Steve Lawrence

meta-

prefix

variants: or met-

Definition of meta- (Entry 2 of 3)

1a : occurring later than or in succession to : after metestrus

b : situated behind or beyond metencephalon metacarpus

c : later or more highly organized or specialized form of metaxylem

2 : change : transformation metaplasia

3 [ metaphysics ] : more comprehensive : transcending metapsychological —usually used with the name of a discipline to designate a new but related discipline designed to deal critically with the original one metamathematics

4a : involving substitution at or characterized by two positions in the benzene ring that are separated by one carbon atom meta-xylene

b : derived from by loss of water metaphosphoric acid

History and Etymology for meta

Adjective

independent use of meta-

Prefix

New Latin & Medieval Latin, from Latin or Greek; Latin, from Greek, among, with, after, from meta among, with, after; akin to Old English mid, mith with, Old High German mit

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Dictionary Entries near meta

mesyl

mesymnion

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Time Traveler for meta

The first known use of meta was in 1988

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meta-

prefix

English Language Learners Definition of meta-

: change

: more than : beyond

See the full definition for meta- in the English Language Learners Dictionary

Medical Definition of meta

(Entry 1 of 2)

: relating to, characterized by, or being two positions in the benzene ring that are separated by one carbon atom

meta-

prefix

variants: or met-

Medical Definition of meta- (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : isomeric with or otherwise closely related to metaldehyde

2 : involving substitution at or characterized by two positions in the benzene ring that are separated by one carbon atom —abbreviation m- meta-xylene or m-xylene — compare orth- sense 2, para- sense 2