Etymograph

English

meeting

Meeting comes from Old English mēting ‘meeting, assembly, association, society’, from mētan ‘to meet, encounter’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₂d-1‘to encounter’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mōtą2reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mōtijaną3‘to meet’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mōtijan3‘to meet’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150mētan4‘to meet’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150mēting5‘meeting’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500meeting5
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1939meeting5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *mōtą
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *mōtijaną
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English metan
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Old English meting
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English meeting
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1939, John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath: “You use ta give a good meetin'. I recollect…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₂d-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *mōtą‘to encounter’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mōtąWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *mōtijanąreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mōtijanąWiktionary, Old English metan‘to meet’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mōtijanWiktionary, Old English metan‘to meet’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150mētanWiktionary, Old English meting‘to meet’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150mētingWiktionary, English meeting‘meeting’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500meetingWiktionary, English meeting
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1939meetingWiktionary, English meeting. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1939, John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath: “You use ta give a good meetin'. I recollect…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with meeting, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- ‘to encounter, come’

  • mate ← gimato ← *gamatjô ← *matjô ← *matiz
  • meat ← mete ← mete ← *mati ← *matiz
  • amadou ← amadouer ← mata ← matur ← matr

through Proto-Germanic *mōtą

through Proto-Germanic *mōtijaną ‘to meet, encounter’

  • moot ← moten ← mōtian

through Old English mētan ‘to meet, encounter’

15 more relatives in the full family tree

No ads, ever.

Become a founding member, $29 onceI have a code

Explore everything descended from *meh₂d- →

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

noun The act of persons or things that meet.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “meeting”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *mōtą, Proto-Germanic *mōtijaną, Old English metan, Old English meting. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- / meeting