meet

meet

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Pronunciation

meet: /miːt/

• Syllable 1:

• /m/ - voiced bilabial nasal consonant

• /iː/ - long close front unrounded vowel

• /t/ - voiceless alveolar plosive consonant

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Word Form Variations

• meet (base form, present tense verb, singular noun)

• meets (present tense verb, third person singular; plural noun)

• met (past tense verb, past participle verb)

• meeting (present participle verb, gerund, noun)

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Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms

Verb

1. To come into the presence or company of (someone) by chance or arrangement.

• Example: "I hope to meet you at the conference next week."

• Synonyms: encounter, see, rendezvous, greet, converge

• Antonyms: avoid, miss, bypass, separate

2. To come together and interact; to hold a gathering or assembly.

• Example: "The committee will meet on Tuesday mornings."

• Synonyms: convene, gather, assemble, congregate

• Antonyms: disperse, adjourn, scatter

3. To come into contact or conflict with; to encounter something undesirable.

• Example: "He met with resistance when he tried to implement the new policy."

• Synonyms: confront, face, experience, encounter, suffer

• Antonyms: avoid, evade, circumvent

4. To satisfy or fulfill (a requirement, condition, or obligation).

• Example: "Does this proposal meet the criteria?"

• Synonyms: fulfill, satisfy, comply with, achieve, answer

• Antonyms: fail, fall short of, neglect, miss

Noun

1. An organized gathering of people for a particular purpose, often a competition or event.

• Example: "The track and field meet was well-attended."

• Synonyms: gathering, assembly, competition, event, convention, rally

• Antonyms: (No direct antonyms; implies lack of gathering)

2. The act or instance of coming together with someone or something.

• Example: "Their first meet was at a coffee shop."

• Synonyms: encounter, rendezvous, appointment, confrontation

• Antonyms: separation, parting, departure

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Examples of Use

Books:

• "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." (F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby) - While not explicitly using "meet," this quote evokes the idea of striving towards or encountering something, a core meaning of the verb.

• "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." (Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice) - This classic opening implies the eventual "meeting" of such a man and a prospective wife.

Newspapers:

• "President Biden to meet with G7 leaders to discuss global economy." (The New York Times)

• "Local residents to meet with city council regarding new development project." (Chicago Tribune)

Online Publications:

• "How to network effectively and meet new professional contacts." (Forbes)

• "Scientists meet to discuss breakthroughs in AI research." (Nature Communications)

Various Entertainment Mediums and Platforms:

• Film: "Here's looking at you, kid." (Casablanca) - While not directly "meet," this iconic line from a meeting scene encapsulates the human connection often established when people meet.

• Television: "Will they finally meet their match?" (Common tagline for reality competition shows like Survivor or The Amazing Race)

• Music: "We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day." (Vera Lynn, "We'll Meet Again,")

• Podcasts: "In this episode, we meet with a leading expert on sustainable energy solutions." (The Daily)

• Video Games: "Your quest is to meet the ancient sage in the whispering woods." (Common quest objective in role-playing games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)

General Public Discourse:

• "Let's grab coffee and meet up next week." (Common casual invitation)

• "Did you meet your sales targets this quarter?" (Workplace conversation)

• "It was a pleasure to finally meet you in person." (Greeting at a social event)

• "We need to meet the challenges of climate change head-on." (Public discussion on environmental issues)

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10 Quotes Using Meet

1. "The only way to have a friend is to meet one." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

2. "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him." (Zen proverb, often attributed to Linji Yixuan)

3. "We meet at last." (Common phrase in literature and film, used by various characters like Gandalf to Saruman in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)

4. "You never meet a man's expectations." (Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway)

5. "I've never met a man I didn't like." (Will Rogers)

6. "We meet again, my friend." (Often used in various fictional contexts, notably in the Star Wars saga)

7. "Where the Sidewalk Ends, we meet the world's most peculiar characters." (Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends)

8. "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities - While this quote doesn't explicitly use "meet," it is a lead-in to Sydney Carton meeting his fate, and the sentiment of meeting destiny is implied. Self-correction: The prompt specifically asks for quotes using the actual word "meet." I need to find another quote.)

9. "East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet." (Rudyard Kipling, "The Ballad of East and West")

10. "Let us meet and defy the storm, the odds, and the naysayers." (Original quote)

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Etymology

The word "meet" has a long history, going back to Old English and even further to ancient Germanic and Indo-European languages.

Originally, in Old English, around the time before 1150, "meet" (spelled "mētan" or "metan") meant something like "to find," "to find out," "to fall in with," or "to encounter." Think of it as simply coming across something or someone, whether by chance or by design. It also carried a sense of "obtaining" something.

This Old English word came from a much older Proto-Germanic word, "motjanan," which also meant "to meet." And even before that, linguists trace it back to a Proto-Indo-European root, "mod-" or "meh₂d-," which had a broader meaning related to "to come" or "to assemble."

Over time, the meaning of "meet" evolved. By the 1300s, it was used for physical contact between things or people coming together, even in conflict. Later, in the 1600s, it started to gain the meaning of "to conform to" or "to satisfy," as in "meeting expectations."

So, while today we often use "meet" to mean a planned gathering or an introduction, its earliest sense was more about the simple act of coming across or encountering something or someone.

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Phrases + Idioms Containing Meet

• Meet and greet: A social event where people meet and introduce themselves.

• Meet your match: To encounter someone who is equally skilled or powerful.

• Meet halfway: To compromise with someone.

• Meet your maker: To die.

• Meet the requirements: To fulfill the necessary conditions.

• Meet a deadline: To complete something by a specific time.

• Meet the eye/meet the gaze: To look directly at someone or something.

• Meet with approval/disapproval: To be received positively or negatively.

• Meet the challenge: To face and overcome a difficult situation.

• Meet the press: To hold a press conference.

• Meet the expense/cost: To be able to afford something.

• Meet your Waterloo: To suffer a final, decisive defeat (referencing Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo).

• Meet an untimely end: To die unexpectedly or prematurely.

• Meet the public: To interact with ordinary people, often in a professional capacity.

• Meet a sticky end: To die in an unpleasant or violent way.

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Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA

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Source Information

Definition of meet from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.

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