"metafunction" meaning in English

See metafunction in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: metafunctions [plural]
Etymology: Etymology tree Ancient Greek μετᾰ́ (metắ) Ancient Greek μετᾰ- (metă-)lbor. English meta- English function English metafunction From meta- + function. Etymology templates: {{ety|en|:af|meta-|function|text=+|tree=1}} Etymology tree Ancient Greek μετᾰ́ (metắ) Ancient Greek μετᾰ- (metă-)lbor. English meta- English function English metafunction [Appendix:Glossary#learned_borrowing|Learned borrowing]] from", "terms" : [ { "children" : [ { "terms" : [ { "children" : [ ], "lang_name" : "Ancient Greek", "term" : "μετᾰ́", "status" : "missing", "lang" : "grc" } ], "keyword_label" : "From", "keyword" : "from" } ], "lang_name" : "Ancient Greek", "term" : "μετᾰ-", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "grc" } ], "keyword" : "lbor" } ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "meta-", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "en" }, { "children" : [ ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "function", "status" : "missing", "lang" : "en" } ], "keyword_label" : "From", "is_group" : true, "keyword" : "affix" } ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "metafunction", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "en" }" data-lang="en" data-title="metafunction"> From meta- + function. Head templates: {{en-noun}} metafunction (plural metafunctions)
  1. (programming) A function which calls all the other functions of a certain program; the only function that can be called independently.
    Sense id: en-metafunction-en-noun-vrGntfVi Categories (other): Programming Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, programming, sciences
  2. (programming) A construct that performs a mapping between entities at compile time.
    Sense id: en-metafunction-en-noun-aXp5X4Fu Categories (other): Programming, English entries with etymology texts, English entries with etymology trees, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms prefixed with meta-, Pages using etymon with no ID, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Pages with etymology trees Disambiguation of English entries with etymology texts: 14 64 23 Disambiguation of English entries with etymology trees: 14 64 23 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 16 69 16 Disambiguation of English terms prefixed with meta-: 22 54 24 Disambiguation of Pages using etymon with no ID: 12 72 16 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 10 82 7 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 10 74 17 Disambiguation of Pages with etymology trees: 14 62 24 Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, programming, sciences
  3. (linguistics) A group of grammatical systems that make meanings of a related kind.
    Sense id: en-metafunction-en-noun-cKMlS1Fs Categories (other): Linguistics Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: metafunctional

Inflected forms

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        "1": "en",
        "2": ":af",
        "3": "meta-",
        "4": "function",
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      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nAncient Greek μετᾰ́ (metắ)\nAncient Greek μετᾰ- (metă-)lbor.\nEnglish meta-\nEnglish function\nEnglish metafunction\n[Appendix:Glossary#learned_borrowing|Learned borrowing]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"μετᾰ́\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"μετᾰ-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"lbor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"meta-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"function\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"en\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"metafunction\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"metafunction\">\nFrom meta- + function.",
      "name": "ety"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nAncient Greek μετᾰ́ (metắ)\nAncient Greek μετᾰ- (metă-)lbor.\nEnglish meta-\nEnglish function\nEnglish metafunction\nFrom meta- + function.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "metafunctions",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
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  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "metafunctional"
    }
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  "senses": [
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          "name": "Programming",
          "orig": "en:Programming",
          "parents": [],
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      "glosses": [
        "A function which calls all the other functions of a certain program; the only function that can be called independently."
      ],
      "id": "en-metafunction-en-noun-vrGntfVi",
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(programming) A function which calls all the other functions of a certain program; the only function that can be called independently."
      ],
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        "engineering",
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        "natural-sciences",
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          "_dis": "14 64 23",
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          "_dis": "10 82 7",
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      "glosses": [
        "A construct that performs a mapping between entities at compile time."
      ],
      "id": "en-metafunction-en-noun-aXp5X4Fu",
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        ],
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        [
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      ],
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        "(programming) A construct that performs a mapping between entities at compile time."
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          "system"
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        "(linguistics) A group of grammatical systems that make meanings of a related kind."
      ],
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        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "metafunction"
}
{
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    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with etymology texts",
    "English entries with etymology trees",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms prefixed with meta-",
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    "Pages with 1 entry",
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  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nAncient Greek μετᾰ́ (metắ)\nAncient Greek μετᾰ- (metă-)lbor.\nEnglish meta-\nEnglish function\nEnglish metafunction\nFrom meta- + function.",
  "forms": [
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  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "metafunctional"
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  ],
  "senses": [
    {
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        "A function which calls all the other functions of a certain program; the only function that can be called independently."
      ],
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        ],
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(programming) A function which calls all the other functions of a certain program; the only function that can be called independently."
      ],
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        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(programming) A construct that performs a mapping between entities at compile time."
      ],
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        "programming",
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        "(linguistics) A group of grammatical systems that make meanings of a related kind."
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      "topics": [
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    }
  ],
  "word": "metafunction"
}

Download raw JSONL data for metafunction meaning in English (3.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-06-07 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-06-01 using wiktextract (e79dea5 and 7f4db16). 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.