"meta" meaning in English

See meta in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˈmɛtə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈmɛtə/ [General-American], [ˈmɛɾə] [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-meta (e).wav [Southern-England] Forms: more meta [comparative], most meta [superlative]
Rhymes: -ɛtə Etymology: From meta-, back-formed from metaphysics. Etymology templates: {{m|en|meta-}} meta-, {{m|en|metaphysics}} metaphysics Head templates: {{en-adj}} meta (comparative more meta, superlative most meta)
  1. (informal) Self-referential; structured analogously (structured by relationships), but at a higher level. Tags: informal Related terms: transcendental, self-aware Translations (self-referential): méta (French), meta (Hungarian)
    Sense id: en-meta-en-adj-en:self_referential Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English heteronyms Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 12 8 2 19 27 9 24 Disambiguation of English heteronyms: 17 7 1 16 22 10 27
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Adjective

IPA: /ˈmɛtə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈmɛtə/ [General-American], [ˈmɛɾə] [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-meta (e).wav [Southern-England] Forms: more meta [comparative], most meta [superlative]
Rhymes: -ɛtə Etymology: Clipping of metagame. Folk etymology also suggests an initialism of most efficient tactic available. Etymology templates: {{clipping|en|metagame}} Clipping of metagame, {{m|en|most}} most, {{m|en|efficient}} efficient, {{m|en|tactic}} tactic, {{m|en|available}} available Head templates: {{en-adj}} meta (comparative more meta, superlative most meta)
  1. (video games) Prominent in the metagame; effective and frequently used in competitive gameplay. Categories (topical): Video games
    Sense id: en-meta-en-adj--xvzysDV Topics: video-games
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 3

Noun

IPA: /ˈmiːtə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈmiːtə/ [General-American], [ˈmiːɾə] [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-meta (ee).wav [Southern-England] Forms: metas [plural], metae [plural]
Rhymes: -iːtə Etymology: From Latin mēta. Etymology templates: {{der|en|la|mēta}} Latin mēta Head templates: {{en-noun|s|metae}} meta (plural metas or metae)
  1. Boundary marker.
    Sense id: en-meta-en-noun-Ss87tgc8
  2. (historical) Either of the conical columns at each end of an Ancient Roman circus. Tags: historical
    Sense id: en-meta-en-noun-C20DztV3 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English heteronyms Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 12 8 2 19 27 9 24 Disambiguation of English heteronyms: 17 7 1 16 22 10 27
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Noun

IPA: /ˈmɛtə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈmɛtə/ [General-American], [ˈmɛɾə] [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-meta (e).wav [Southern-England] Forms: metas [plural]
Rhymes: -ɛtə Etymology: Clipping of metagame. Folk etymology also suggests an initialism of most efficient tactic available. Etymology templates: {{clipping|en|metagame}} Clipping of metagame, {{m|en|most}} most, {{m|en|efficient}} efficient, {{m|en|tactic}} tactic, {{m|en|available}} available Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} meta (countable and uncountable, plural metas)
  1. (video games) Short for metagame. Tags: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, uncountable Alternative form of: metagame Categories (topical): Video games
    Sense id: en-meta-en-noun-ba4JljPq Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English heteronyms Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 12 8 2 19 27 9 24 Disambiguation of English heteronyms: 17 7 1 16 22 10 27 Topics: video-games
  2. (by extension, countable, Internet slang) An informal but widely adopted practice in a given field; a de facto standard. Tags: Internet, broadly, countable
    Sense id: en-meta-en-noun-LmTaubFd
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 3

Noun

IPA: /ˈmɛtə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈmɛtə/ [General-American], [ˈmɛɾə] [General-American] Forms: metas [plural]
Rhymes: -ɛtə Etymology: Clipping of metaoidioplasty. Etymology templates: {{clipping|en|metaoidioplasty}} Clipping of metaoidioplasty Head templates: {{en-noun}} meta (plural metas)
  1. (informal) Metoidioplasty. Tags: informal
    Sense id: en-meta-en-noun-8oMjSbpn Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English heteronyms Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 12 8 2 19 27 9 24 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 17 9 1 17 21 8 28 Disambiguation of English heteronyms: 17 7 1 16 22 10 27
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 4

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for meta meaning in English (12.3kB)

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "meta-"
      },
      "expansion": "meta-",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "metaphysics"
      },
      "expansion": "metaphysics",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From meta-, back-formed from metaphysics.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more meta",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most meta",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "meta (comparative more meta, superlative most meta)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "12 8 2 19 27 9 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 7 1 16 22 10 27",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English heteronyms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Suppose you have a genie that grants you three wishes. If you wish for infinite wishes, that is a meta wish.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Robert C. Neville, Religion in Late Modernity, page 31",
          "text": "[…] in finessing obligations you fail a \"meta\" kind of obligation.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Brendan Vaughan, What Would MacGyver Do?, page 186",
          "text": "Besides, I can just hear Vaughan: \"Very funny, Stacey, very Charlie Kaufman-esque, very meta, very '97. I can't use it.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021 March 1, Carol Midgley, “McDonald & Dodds review – cheerful escapism and filth-free distraction”, in The Times",
          "text": "McDonald & Dodds is back, with episode one so deliberately hammy and meta that, technically, it should have been a complete horlicks. In one scene, when they were all hanging on to the balloon ropes, Mr Bean-like, to stop Jason Watkins flying away, it sort of was.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Self-referential; structured analogously (structured by relationships), but at a higher level."
      ],
      "id": "en-meta-en-adj-en:self_referential",
      "links": [
        [
          "Self-referential",
          "self-referential"
        ],
        [
          "analogously",
          "analogously"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Self-referential; structured analogously (structured by relationships), but at a higher level."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "transcendental"
        },
        {
          "word": "self-aware"
        }
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:self-referential"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "self-referential",
          "word": "méta"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "self-referential",
          "word": "meta"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈmɛɾə]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛtə"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-meta (e).wav",
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      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "meta"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "mēta"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin mēta",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Latin mēta.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "metas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "metae",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "s",
        "2": "metae"
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      "expansion": "meta (plural metas or metae)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Boundary marker."
      ],
      "id": "en-meta-en-noun-Ss87tgc8",
      "links": [
        [
          "Boundary",
          "boundary"
        ],
        [
          "marker",
          "marker"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "12 8 2 19 27 9 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 7 1 16 22 10 27",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English heteronyms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Either of the conical columns at each end of an Ancient Roman circus."
      ],
      "id": "en-meta-en-noun-C20DztV3",
      "links": [
        [
          "column",
          "column"
        ],
        [
          "circus",
          "circus"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(historical) Either of the conical columns at each end of an Ancient Roman circus."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmiːtə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmiːtə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈmiːɾə]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-iːtə"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-meta (ee).wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/34/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-meta_%28ee%29.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-meta_%28ee%29.wav.mp3",
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      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "meta"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 3,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "metagame"
      },
      "expansion": "Clipping of metagame",
      "name": "clipping"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "most"
      },
      "expansion": "most",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "efficient"
      },
      "expansion": "efficient",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "tactic"
      },
      "expansion": "tactic",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "available"
      },
      "expansion": "available",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Clipping of metagame. Folk etymology also suggests an initialism of most efficient tactic available.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "metas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "meta (countable and uncountable, plural metas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "metagame"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Video games",
          "orig": "en:Video games",
          "parents": [
            "Games",
            "Mass media",
            "Software",
            "Recreation",
            "Culture",
            "Media",
            "Computing",
            "Human activity",
            "Society",
            "Communication",
            "Technology",
            "Human behaviour",
            "All topics",
            "Human",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 8 2 19 27 9 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 7 1 16 22 10 27",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English heteronyms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I don't think the character will be part of the meta even with the recent buffs.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Short for metagame."
      ],
      "id": "en-meta-en-noun-ba4JljPq",
      "links": [
        [
          "video game",
          "video game"
        ],
        [
          "metagame",
          "metagame#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(video games) Short for metagame."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "abbreviation",
        "alt-of",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "video-games"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Each video sharing platform's community has a meta on how long videos should be.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 October 27, 29:51 from the start, in Hard Fork (podcast), spoken by Kevin Roose, The New York Times",
          "text": "I remember interviewing PewDiePie a few years ago, and he was sort of telling me about this time where it was like edgy videos were being really rewarded, so everyone was kind of chasing like edgy humor and edgy memes, and sort of trying to figure out where the edge was. And then YouTube changed the meta, and suddenly, it wasn’t good to be edgy, you weren't weren’t going to make as much money or get as many views.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An informal but widely adopted practice in a given field; a de facto standard."
      ],
      "id": "en-meta-en-noun-LmTaubFd",
      "links": [
        [
          "Internet",
          "Internet"
        ],
        [
          "slang",
          "slang"
        ],
        [
          "de facto",
          "de facto"
        ],
        [
          "standard",
          "standard#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension, countable, Internet slang) An informal but widely adopted practice in a given field; a de facto standard."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Internet",
        "broadly",
        "countable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
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      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈmɛɾə]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛtə"
    },
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      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "meta"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 3,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "metagame"
      },
      "expansion": "Clipping of metagame",
      "name": "clipping"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "most"
      },
      "expansion": "most",
      "name": "m"
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        "2": "efficient"
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      "name": "m"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "available"
      },
      "expansion": "available",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Clipping of metagame. Folk etymology also suggests an initialism of most efficient tactic available.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more meta",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most meta",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "meta (comparative more meta, superlative most meta)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Video games",
          "orig": "en:Video games",
          "parents": [
            "Games",
            "Mass media",
            "Software",
            "Recreation",
            "Culture",
            "Media",
            "Computing",
            "Human activity",
            "Society",
            "Communication",
            "Technology",
            "Human behaviour",
            "All topics",
            "Human",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I don't think the character will be meta even with the recent buffs.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Prominent in the metagame; effective and frequently used in competitive gameplay."
      ],
      "id": "en-meta-en-adj--xvzysDV",
      "links": [
        [
          "video game",
          "video game"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(video games) Prominent in the metagame; effective and frequently used in competitive gameplay."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "video-games"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈmɛɾə]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛtə"
    },
    {
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      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "meta"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 4,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "metaoidioplasty"
      },
      "expansion": "Clipping of metaoidioplasty",
      "name": "clipping"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Clipping of metaoidioplasty.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "metas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "meta (plural metas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "12 8 2 19 27 9 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 9 1 17 21 8 28",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 7 1 16 22 10 27",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English heteronyms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Metoidioplasty."
      ],
      "id": "en-meta-en-noun-8oMjSbpn",
      "links": [
        [
          "Metoidioplasty",
          "metoidioplasty"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Metoidioplasty."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈmɛɾə]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛtə"
    }
  ],
  "word": "meta"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English adjectives",
    "English clippings",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English heteronyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛtə",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛtə/2 syllables"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "meta-"
      },
      "expansion": "meta-",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "metaphysics"
      },
      "expansion": "metaphysics",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From meta-, back-formed from metaphysics.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more meta",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most meta",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "meta (comparative more meta, superlative most meta)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "transcendental"
    },
    {
      "word": "self-aware"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English informal terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Suppose you have a genie that grants you three wishes. If you wish for infinite wishes, that is a meta wish.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Robert C. Neville, Religion in Late Modernity, page 31",
          "text": "[…] in finessing obligations you fail a \"meta\" kind of obligation.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Brendan Vaughan, What Would MacGyver Do?, page 186",
          "text": "Besides, I can just hear Vaughan: \"Very funny, Stacey, very Charlie Kaufman-esque, very meta, very '97. I can't use it.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021 March 1, Carol Midgley, “McDonald & Dodds review – cheerful escapism and filth-free distraction”, in The Times",
          "text": "McDonald & Dodds is back, with episode one so deliberately hammy and meta that, technically, it should have been a complete horlicks. In one scene, when they were all hanging on to the balloon ropes, Mr Bean-like, to stop Jason Watkins flying away, it sort of was.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Self-referential; structured analogously (structured by relationships), but at a higher level."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Self-referential",
          "self-referential"
        ],
        [
          "analogously",
          "analogously"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Self-referential; structured analogously (structured by relationships), but at a higher level."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:self-referential"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈmɛɾə]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛtə"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-meta (e).wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/49/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-meta_%28e%29.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-meta_%28e%29.wav.mp3",
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      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "self-referential",
      "word": "méta"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "self-referential",
      "word": "meta"
    }
  ],
  "word": "meta"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English clippings",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English heteronyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English nouns with irregular plurals",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "Rhymes:English/iːtə",
    "Rhymes:English/iːtə/2 syllables",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛtə",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛtə/2 syllables"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "mēta"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin mēta",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Latin mēta.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "metas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "metae",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "s",
        "2": "metae"
      },
      "expansion": "meta (plural metas or metae)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Boundary marker."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Boundary",
          "boundary"
        ],
        [
          "marker",
          "marker"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with historical senses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Either of the conical columns at each end of an Ancient Roman circus."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "column",
          "column"
        ],
        [
          "circus",
          "circus"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(historical) Either of the conical columns at each end of an Ancient Roman circus."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmiːtə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmiːtə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈmiːɾə]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-iːtə"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-meta (ee).wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/34/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-meta_%28ee%29.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-meta_%28ee%29.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/34/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-meta_%28ee%29.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-meta_%28ee%29.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "meta"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English adjectives",
    "English clippings",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English heteronyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛtə",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛtə/2 syllables"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 3,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "metagame"
      },
      "expansion": "Clipping of metagame",
      "name": "clipping"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "most"
      },
      "expansion": "most",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "efficient"
      },
      "expansion": "efficient",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "tactic"
      },
      "expansion": "tactic",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "available"
      },
      "expansion": "available",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Clipping of metagame. Folk etymology also suggests an initialism of most efficient tactic available.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "metas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "meta (countable and uncountable, plural metas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "metagame"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English short forms",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "en:Video games"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I don't think the character will be part of the meta even with the recent buffs.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Short for metagame."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "video game",
          "video game"
        ],
        [
          "metagame",
          "metagame#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(video games) Short for metagame."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "abbreviation",
        "alt-of",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "video-games"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English internet slang",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Each video sharing platform's community has a meta on how long videos should be.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 October 27, 29:51 from the start, in Hard Fork (podcast), spoken by Kevin Roose, The New York Times",
          "text": "I remember interviewing PewDiePie a few years ago, and he was sort of telling me about this time where it was like edgy videos were being really rewarded, so everyone was kind of chasing like edgy humor and edgy memes, and sort of trying to figure out where the edge was. And then YouTube changed the meta, and suddenly, it wasn’t good to be edgy, you weren't weren’t going to make as much money or get as many views.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An informal but widely adopted practice in a given field; a de facto standard."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Internet",
          "Internet"
        ],
        [
          "slang",
          "slang"
        ],
        [
          "de facto",
          "de facto"
        ],
        [
          "standard",
          "standard#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension, countable, Internet slang) An informal but widely adopted practice in a given field; a de facto standard."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Internet",
        "broadly",
        "countable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈmɛɾə]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛtə"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-meta (e).wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/49/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-meta_%28e%29.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-meta_%28e%29.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/49/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-meta_%28e%29.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-meta_%28e%29.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "meta"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English adjectives",
    "English clippings",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English heteronyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛtə",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛtə/2 syllables"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 3,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "metagame"
      },
      "expansion": "Clipping of metagame",
      "name": "clipping"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "most"
      },
      "expansion": "most",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "efficient"
      },
      "expansion": "efficient",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "tactic"
      },
      "expansion": "tactic",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "available"
      },
      "expansion": "available",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Clipping of metagame. Folk etymology also suggests an initialism of most efficient tactic available.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more meta",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most meta",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "meta (comparative more meta, superlative most meta)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "en:Video games"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I don't think the character will be meta even with the recent buffs.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Prominent in the metagame; effective and frequently used in competitive gameplay."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "video game",
          "video game"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(video games) Prominent in the metagame; effective and frequently used in competitive gameplay."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "video-games"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈmɛɾə]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛtə"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-meta (e).wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/49/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-meta_%28e%29.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-meta_%28e%29.wav.mp3",
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      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "meta"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English clippings",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English heteronyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛtə",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛtə/2 syllables"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 4,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "metaoidioplasty"
      },
      "expansion": "Clipping of metaoidioplasty",
      "name": "clipping"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Clipping of metaoidioplasty.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "metas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "meta (plural metas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English informal terms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Metoidioplasty."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Metoidioplasty",
          "metoidioplasty"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Metoidioplasty."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛtə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈmɛɾə]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛtə"
    }
  ],
  "word": "meta"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-12 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (ae36afe and 304864d). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.