Etymograph

English

meta-

Meta- comes from Ancient Greek μετά ‘in the midst of, among, between, with’, and goes back to Mycenaean Greek me-ta.

  1. Mycenaean Greekmodernme-ta1transliteratedoriginal script me-ta, a transliteration; the original signs are in Wiktionary
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμετά1‘in the midst of, among, between, with’
  3. Englishtodaymeta-1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English meta-

Lineage

  1. Mycenaean Greekmodernme-taWiktionary, English meta-transliteratedoriginal script me-ta, a transliteration; the original signs are in Wiktionary
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμετάWiktionary, English meta-‘in the midst of, among, between, with’
  3. Englishtodaymeta-Wiktionary, English meta-

The story

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek μετα- (meta-), from μετά (metá), from Mycenaean Greek 𐀕𐀲 (me-ta), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *meth₂ (‘in the middle’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Ancient Greek μετά ‘in the midst of, among, between, with’

meteorology, 1 more

Today it means

prefix Behind.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “meta-”. 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 / Mycenaean Greek me-ta / meta-

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