2. (Med.) A change in the location of a disease, as from one part to
another. Dunglison.
3. (Physiol.) The act or process by which matter is taken up by cells
or tissues and is transformed into other matter; in plants, the act or
process by which are produced all of those chemical changes in the
constituents of the plant which are not accompanied by a production of
organic matter; metabolism.
Met`a*stat"ic (?), a. Of, pertaining to, or caused by, metastasis; as,
a metastatic abscess; the metastatic processes of growth.
Met`a*ster"nal (?), a. Of or pertaining to the metasternum.
||Met`a*ster"num (?), n. [Pref. meta- + sternum.] 1. (Anat.) The most
||posterior element of the sternum; the ensiform process; xiphisternum.
2. (Zoöl.) The ventral plate of the third or last segment of the thorax
of insects.
{ ||Me*tas"to*ma (?), Met"a*stome (?), } n. [NL. metastoma, from Gr.
meta` behind + sto`ma mouth.] (Zoöl.) A median elevation behind the
mouth in the arthropods.
Met`a*tar"sal (?), a. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the metatarsus. -- n.
A metatarsal bone.
Met"a*tarse (?), n. (Anat.) Metatarsus.
Met`a*tar"sus (?), n.; pl. Metatarsi (#). [NL. See Meta-, and Tarsus.]
(Anat.) That part of the skeleton of the hind or lower limb between the
tarsus and phalanges; metatarse. It consists, in the human foot, of
five bones. See Illustration in Appendix.
Me*tath"e*sis (?), n.; pl. Metatheses (&?;). [L., fr. Gr. meta`thesis,
fr. metatithe`nai to place differently, to transpose; meta` beyond,
over + tithe`nai to place, set. See Thesis.] 1. (Gram.) Transposition,
as of the letters or syllables of a word; as, pistris for pristis;
meagre for meager.
2. (Med.) A mere change in place of a morbid substance, without removal
from the body.
3. (Chem.) The act, process, or result of exchange, substitution, or
replacement of atoms and radicals; thus, by metathesis an acid gives up
all or part of its hydrogen, takes on an equivalent amount of a metal
or base, and forms a salt.
{ Met`a*thet"ic (?), Met`a*thet"ic*al (?), } a. Of or pertaining to
metathesis.
Met`a*tho*rac"ic (?), a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the metathorax.
Met`a*tho"rax (?), n. [NL.: cf. F. métathorax. See Meta-, and Thorax.]
(Zoöl.) The last or posterior segment of the thorax in insects. See
Illust. of Coleoptera.
Met`a*ti*tan"ic (?), a. [Pref. meta- + titanic.] (Chem.) Of,
pertaining to, or designating, an acid of titanium analogous to
metasilicic acid.
Met`a*tung"state (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of metatungstic acid.
Met`a*tung"stic (?), a. [Pref. meta- + tungstic.] (Chem.) Of,
pertaining to, or designating, an acid known only in its salts (the
metatungstates) and properly called polytungstic, or pyrotungstic,
acid.
Met`a*van"a*date (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of metavanadic acid.
Met`a*va*nad"ic (?), a. [Pref. meta- + vanadic.] (Chem.) Of,
pertaining to, or designating, a vanadic acid analogous to
metaphosphoric acid.
Met`a*xy"lene (?), n. [Pref. meta- + xylene.] (Chem.) That variety of
xylene, or dimethyl benzene, in which the two methyl groups occupy the
meta position with reference to each other. It is a colorless
inflammable liquid.
||Mé`ta`yage" (?), n. [F. See Métayer.] A system of farming on halves.
||[France & Italy]
||Mé`ta`yer" (F. ?; E. ?), n. [F., fr. LL. medietarius, fr. L. medius
||middle, half. See Mid, a.] One who cultivates land for a share
||(usually one half) of its yield, receiving stock, tools, and seed
||from the landlord. [France & Italy] Milman.
||Met`a*zo"a (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; after + zo^,on an animal.]
||(Zoöl.) Those animals in which the protoplasmic mass, constituting
||the egg, is converted into a multitude of cells, which are
||metamorphosed into the tissues of the body. A central cavity is
||commonly developed, and the cells around it are at first arranged in
||two layers, -- the ectoderm and endoderm. The group comprises nearly
||all animals except the Protozoa.
Met`a*zo"an (?), n.; pl. Metazoans (&?;). (Zoöl.) One of the Metazoa.
Met`a*zo"ic (?), a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Metazoa.
||Met`a*zo"ön (?), n. [NL.] (Zoöl.) One of the Metazoa.
Mete (?), n. Meat. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Mete, v. t. & i. To meet. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Mete, v. i. & t. [imp. Mette (?); p. p. Met.] [AS. m&?;tan.] To dream;
also impersonally; as, me mette, I dreamed. [Obs.] "I mette of him all
night." Chaucer.
Mete (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Meted; p. pr. & vb. n. Meting.] [AS.
metan; akin to D. meten, G. messen, OHG. mezzan, Icel. meta, Sw. mäta,
Goth. mitan, L. modus measure, moderation, modius a corn measure, Gr.
&?; to rule, &?; a corn measure, and ultimately from the same root as
E. measure, L. metiri to measure; cf. Skr. m to measure. √99. Cf.
Measure, Meet, a., Mode.] To find the quantity, dimensions, or capacity
of, by any rule or standard; to measure.
Mete (?), v. i. To measure. [Obs.] Mark iv. 24.
Mete, n. [AS. met. See Mete to measure.] Measure; limit; boundary; --
used chiefly in the plural, and in the phrase metes and bounds.
Mete"corn` (?), n. A quantity of corn formerly given by the lord to his
customary tenants, as an encouragement to, or reward for, labor and
faithful service.
Mete"ly, a. According to measure or proportion; proportionable;
proportionate. [Obs.]
{ Met`em*pir"ic (?), Met`em*pir"ic*al (?), } a. [Pref. met- + empiric,
- ical.] (Metaph.) Related, or belonging, to the objects of knowledge
within the province of metempirics.
If then the empirical designates the province we include within the
range of science, the province we exclude may be fitly styled the
metempirical.
G. H. Lewes.
Met*em*pir"i*cism (?), n. The science that is concerned with
metempirics.
Met`em*pir"ics (?), n. The concepts and relations which are conceived
as beyond, and yet as related to, the knowledge gained by experience.
Me*temp"sy*chose (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Metempsychosed (?); p. pr. &
vb. n. Metempsychosing (?).] [See Metempsychosis.] To translate or
transfer, as the soul, from one body to another. [R.] Peacham.
Me*temp`sy*cho"sis (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?;; &?; beyond, over + &?; to
animate; &?; in + &?; soul. See Psychology.] The passage of the soul,
as an immortal essence, at the death of the animal body it had
inhabited, into another living body, whether of a brute or a human
being; transmigration of souls. Sir T. Browne.
Met`emp*to"sis (?), n. [NL., from Gr. &?; beyond, after + &?; a falling
upon, fr. &?; to fall in or upon; &?; in + &?; to fall.] (Chron.) The
suppression of a day in the calendar to prevent the date of the new
moon being set a day too late, or the suppression of the bissextile day
once in 134 years. The opposite to this is the proemptosis, or the
addition of a day every 330 years, and another every 2,400 years.
Met`en*ceph"a*lon (?), n. [Met- + encephalon.] (Anat.) The posterior
part of the brain, including the medulla; the afterbrain. Sometimes
abbreviated to meten.
||Met`en*so`ma*to"sis (?), n. [L., a change of body (by the soul), fr.
||Gr. &?;.] (Biol.) The assimilation by one body or organism of the
||elements of another.
Me"te*or (?), n. [F. météore, Gr. &?;, pl. &?; things in the air, fr.
&?; high in air, raised off the ground; &?; beyond + &?;, &?;, a
suspension or hovering in the air, fr. &?; to lift, raise up.]
1. Any phenomenon or appearance in the atmosphere, as clouds, rain,
hail, snow, etc.
Hail, an ordinary meteor.
Bp. Hall.
2. Specif.: A transient luminous body or appearance seen in the
atmosphere, or in a more elevated region.
The vaulty top of heaven Figured quite o'er with burning meteors.
Shak.
The term is especially applied to fireballs, and the masses of stone or
other substances which sometimes fall to the earth; also to shooting
stars and to ignes fatui. Meteors are often classed as: aerial meteors,
winds, tornadoes, etc.; aqueous meteors, rain, hail, snow, dew, etc.;
luminous meteors, rainbows, halos, etc.; and igneous meteors,
lightning, shooting stars, and the like.
Me`te*or"ic (?), a. [Cf. F. météorique.] 1. Of or pertaining to a
meteor, or to meteors; atmospheric, as, meteoric phenomena; meteoric
stones.