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Origin and history of Metis

Metis

Greek goddess personifying prudence, first wife of Zeus, from Greek Mētis, literally "advice, wisdom, counsel; cunning, skill, craft," from PIE root *me- (2) "to measure."

metis(n.)

"person of mixed parentage," especially French Canadian and North American Indian, 1816, from French métis, from Late Latin mixticus "of mixed race," from Latin mixtus "mixed," past participle of miscere "to mix, mingle" (from PIE root *meik- "to mix"). Compare mestizo.

Entries linking to Metis

"offspring of a person of mixed blood," especially a person of mixed Spanish and Amerindian parentage," 1580s, from Spanish mestizo, Portuguese mestiço, "of mixed European and Amerindian parentage," from Late Latin mixticius "mixed, mongrel," from Latin mixtus "mixed," past participle of miscere "to mix, mingle" (from PIE root *meik- "to mix"). Fem. form mestiza is attested from 1580s. Compare mustee.

*mē-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to measure." Some words may belong instead to root *med- "to take appropriate measures."

It might form all or part of: amenorrhea; centimeter; commensurate; diameter; dimension; gematria; geometry; immense; isometric; meal (n.1) "food, time for eating;" measure; menarche; meniscus; menopause; menses; menstrual; menstruate; mensural; meter (n.1) "poetic measure;" meter (n.2) unit of length; meter (n.3) "device for measuring;" -meter; Metis; metric; metrical; metronome; -metry; Monday; month; moon; parameter; pentameter; perimeter; piecemeal; semester; symmetry; thermometer; trigonometry; trimester.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit mati "measures," matra "measure;" Avestan, Old Persian ma- "to measure;" Greek metron "measure," metra "lot, portion;" Latin metri "to measure."

also *meig-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to mix."

It might form all or part of: admix; admixture; immiscible; mash; meddle; medley; melange; melee; mestizo; metis; miscegenation; miscellaneous; miscible; mix; mixo-; mixture; mustang; pell-mell; promiscuous.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit misrah "mixed;" Greek misgein, mignynai "to mix, mix up, mingle; to join, bring together; join (battle); make acquainted with;" Old Church Slavonic mešo, mesiti "to mix," Russian meshat, Lithuanian maišau, maišyti "to mix, mingle," Welsh mysgu "to mix."

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Trends of Metis

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

These bodies [the Jovian moons] have been called in the order of their distance from Jupiter, Hebe, Ganymede, Themis, and, Metis...

"to hit, strike, give a hard blow; beat with the hand, a stick, etc.," late 12c., smiten, from Old English smitan, which however is attested only as "to daub, smear on; soil, pollute, blemish, defile" (strong verb, past tense smat, past participle smiten, smiton). This is from Pr

c. 1300, preiere, "earnest request, entreaty, petition," also "the practice of praying or of communing with God," from Old French prier "prayer, petition, request" (12c., Modern French prière), from Medieval Latin precaria "petition, prayer," noun use of Latin adjective precaria,

Middle English smerten, "to cause pain, to suffer pain," from Old English smeortan "be painful," in reference to wounds, from Proto-Germanic *smarta- (source also of Middle Dutch smerten, Dutch smarten, Old High German smerzan, German schmerzen "to pain," originally "to bite"). T

1530s, "pertaining to the earliest period, of a primitive style, ancient," from French pristin and directly from Latin pristinus "former, early, original," from Old Latin pri "before," from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, before, first." Meaning "unspoiled, unto

c. 1600, "reward given for a specific act or a particular line of conduct," from Latin praemium "reward, profit derived from booty," from prae "before" (see pre-) + emere "to buy," originally "to take" (from PIE root *em- "to take, distribute"). The sense of "amount to be paid by

mid-14c., remembren, "keep or bear (something or someone) in mind, retain in the memory, preserve unforgotten," from Old French remembrer "remember, recall, bring to mind" (11c.), from Latin rememorari "recall to mind, remember," from re- "again" (see re-) + memorari "be mindful

"military expedition under the banner of the cross," 1706, a respelling or replacement of croisade (1570s), from French croisade (16c.), Spanish cruzada, both from Medieval Latin cruciata, past participle of cruciare "to mark with a cross," from Latin crux (genitive crucis) "cros

1540s, originally "guinea fowl" (Numida meleagris), a bird imported from Madagascar via Turkey, and called guinea fowl when brought by Portuguese traders from West Africa. The larger North American bird (Meleagris gallopavo) was domesticated by the Aztecs, introduced to Spain by

early 15c., "a substitute, person appointed or deputed by authority to act for another," from Latin surrogatus, past participle of surrogare/subrogare "put in another's place, substitute." This is from an assimilated form of sub "in the place of, under" (see sub-) + rogare "to as

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Dictionary entries near Metis

metic
meticulous
meticulously
meticulousness
metier
Metis
metonym
metonymy
metopic
metre
metric

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