meta-

or met-
pref.

1. 1. Later in time: metestrus.
   2. At a later stage of development: metanephros.
2. Situated behind: metacarpus.
3. 1. Change; transformation: metachromatism.
   2. Alternation: metagenesis.
4. 1. Beyond; transcending; more comprehensive: metalinguistics.
   2. At a higher state of development: metazoan.
5. Having undergone metamorphosis: metasomatic.
6. 1. Derivative or related chemical substance: metaprotein.
   2. Of or relating to one of three possible isomers of a benzene ring with two attached chemical groups, in which the carbon atoms with attached groups are separated by one unsubstituted carbon atom: meta-dibromobenzene.

[Greek, from meta, beside, after.]

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In recent use this prefix has been borrowed from the term metaphysics and applied to other words with the meaning 'of a higher or second-order kind': a metalanguage is language used to describe language, metafiction is a form of fiction in which the author set out to parody literary conventions, and metapsychology is the study of mental processes that extend beyond the scope of experimental psychology.

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[from analytic philosophy] One level of description up. A metasyntactic variable is a variable in notation used to describe syntax, and meta-language is language used to describe language. This is difficult to explain briefly, but much hacker humor turns on deliberate confusion between meta-levels. See hacker humor.

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In a racetrack, a column or monument to mark a turn.

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symbol: m-; prefix (in organic chemical nomenclature) denoting the isomer of a disubstituted monocyclic aromatic compound in which the substituents are separated by one intervening unsubstituted ring-carbon atom. Compare ortho-, para-.

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For a list of words related to meta-, see:

• Prefixes - meta-: after, beyond, changed (metaphysics)
• Relative Time - meta-: prefix meaning after or beyond

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