μετά

See also μετα-, and μετά-

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• πεδά (Aeolic, Doric, Arcadocypriot)

Etymology

Uncertain. Perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European *meth₂, with cognates including Old English mid and Albanian mjet. May be related to μέχρι (mekhri, “until”) and μέσος (mesos, “middle”).

Pronunciation

• (5th BC Attic): IPA: /metá/

• (1st BC Egyptian): IPA: /mɛtá/

• (4th AD Koine): IPA: /metá/

• (10th AD Byzantine): IPA: /metá/

• (15th AD Constantinopolitan): IPA: /metá/

Preposition

μετά (meta)

1. (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. (dative, only in poetry, usually Epic)
   1. between, among
   2. besides, over and above
3. (accusative)
   1. coming 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

μετά (meta)

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

Prefix

μετά (meta)

1. concerning community or participation
   1. concerning action in common with another
2. in the midst of
3. concerning succession
4. concerning pursuit
5. concerning letting go
6. after, behind
7. reversely
8. (most frequent) concerning change in position, condition

References

• μετά in A Greek-English Lexicon by Liddell & Scott, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1940
• BDAG
• Robert S. P. Beekes (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill Academic Publishers)
• Strong’s concordance number: G3326

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Greek

Alternative forms

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

Pronunciation

• IPA: [me̞ˈta]
• Hyphenation: με‧τά

Adverb

μετά (metá)

1. afterwards, later

   Δεν έχω χρόνο τώρα, θα το συζητήσουμε μετά. (I have no time now, we will talk later.)

2. (with από and accusative): after

   Μετά από πέντε λεπτά, ήρθε το λεωφορείο. (After five minutes the bus came.)

Conjunction

μετά (μετά)

1. for consecutive statements (so, therefore):

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

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

Preposition

μετά (metá)

1. (with accusative): after

   Μετά το δείπνο, έπεσε για ύπνο. (After dinner I went to sleep.)

   Το γράμμα βήτα έρχεται μετά το άλφα. (The letter beta comes after alpha.)

2. (with genitive): with (accompanying)

   Ήλθε μετά της συζύγου του. (He came with his wife)

3. (with genitive): with (manner)

   μετά τιμής (in correspondence: yours sincerely - literally 'with honour')