meio

See also: meîo

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *meiɣjō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃meyǵʰ-. Doublet of mingō. Cognate with Ancient Greek ὀμείχω (omeíkhō), Sanskrit मेहति (mehati), Old Norse míga, Tocharian B miśo.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈmeː.joː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmɛː.jo]

Verb

mēiō (present infinitive mēiere, perfect active mīxī or mēiī, supine mīctum); third conjugation

1. (chiefly intransitive) to urinate

   Synonym: mingō

Conjugation

   Conjugation of mēiō (third conjugation)

indicative		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	mēiō		mēiis		mēiit		mēiimus		mēiitis		mēiunt
	imperfect	mēiēbam		mēiēbās		mēiēbat		mēiēbāmus		mēiēbātis		mēiēbant
	future	mēiam		mēiēs		mēiet		mēiēmus		mēiētis		mēient
	perfect	mīxī, mēiī		mīxistī, mēiistī		mīxit, mēiit		mīximus, mēiimus		mīxistis, mēiistis		mīxērunt, mīxēre, mēiērunt, mēiēre
	pluperfect	mīxeram, mēieram		mīxerās, mēierās		mīxerat, mēierat		mīxerāmus, mēierāmus		mīxerātis, mēierātis		mīxerant, mēierant
	future perfect	mīxerō, mēierō		mīxeris, mēieris		mīxerit, mēierit		mīxerimus, mēierimus		mīxeritis, mēieritis		mīxerint, mēierint
passive	present	mēior		mēieris, mēiere		mēiitur		mēiimur		mēiiminī		mēiuntur
	imperfect	mēiēbar		mēiēbāris, mēiēbāre		mēiēbātur		mēiēbāmur		mēiēbāminī		mēiēbantur
	future	mēiar		mēiēris, mēiēre		mēiētur		mēiēmur		mēiēminī		mēientur
	perfect	mīctus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	mīctus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	mīctus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	mēiam		mēiās		mēiat		mēiāmus		mēiātis		mēiant
	imperfect	mēierem		mēierēs		mēieret		mēierēmus		mēierētis		mēierent
	perfect	mīxerim, mēierim		mīxerīs, mēierīs		mīxerit, mēierit		mīxerīmus, mēierīmus		mīxerītis, mēierītis		mīxerint, mēierint
	pluperfect	mīxissem, mēiissem		mīxissēs, mēiissēs		mīxisset, mēiisset		mīxissēmus, mēiissēmus		mīxissētis, mēiissētis		mīxissent, mēiissent
passive	present	mēiar		mēiāris, mēiāre		mēiātur		mēiāmur		mēiāminī		mēiantur
	imperfect	mēierer		mēierēris, mēierēre		mēierētur		mēierēmur		mēierēminī		mēierentur
	perfect	mīctus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	mīctus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	—		mēie		—		—		mēiite		—
	future	—		mēiitō		mēiitō		—		mēiitōte		mēiuntō
passive	present	—		mēiere		—		—		mēiiminī		—
	future	—		mēiitor		mēiitor		—		—		mēiuntor
non-finite forms		infinitive						participle
		active			passive			active			passive
present		mēiere			mēiī			mēiēns			—
future		mīctūrum esse			mīctum īrī			mīctūrus			mēiendus, mēiundus
perfect		mīxisse, mēiisse			mīctum esse			—			mīctus
future perfect		—			mīctum fore			—			—
perfect potential		mīctūrum fuisse			—			—			—
verbal nouns		gerund								supine
		genitive		dative		accusative		ablative		accusative		ablative
		mēiendī		mēiendō		mēiendum		mēiendō		mīctum		mīctū

Derived terms

• caldum mēiere et frigidum pōtāre

Descendants

Through Vulgar Latin *mēiāre:

• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: meare, mejare, mejire
• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Dalmatian: miur
  • Old Italian: *meggiare
    • ⇒ Italian: meggia (“urine”) (Tuscan)
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Asturian: mexar
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: mejar
    • Galician: mexar
    • Portuguese: mijar
  • Spanish: mear

References

• “meio”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “meio”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “meio”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Old High German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Maius.

Noun

meio m

1. May

Declension

Declension of meio (masculine n-stem)

case	singular	plural
nominative	meio	meion, meiun
accusative	meion, meiun	meion, meiun
genitive	meien, meiin	meiōno
dative	meien, meiin	meiōm, meiōn

Descendants

• Middle High German: meie, meige
  • Alemannic German: Mai
  • Bavarian: Moa
    • Cimbrian: moajo
    • Mòcheno: moi
  • German: Mai
    • → Estonian: mai
    • → Hebrew: מַאי (may)
    • → Hunsrik: Maai
    • → Slovene: máj
  • Kölsch: Meij
  • Luxembourgish: Mee
  • Pennsylvania German: Moin
  • Vilamovian: maj
  • Yiddish: מײַ (may)

References

• Köbler, Gerhard (2014), “meio”, in Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch‎^[1] (in German), 6th edition

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmej.u/ [ˈmeɪ̯.u]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmɐj.u/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmɐj.u/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmej.u/
  • (Central Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmej.u/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈme.u/

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eju, -ɐju
• Hyphenation: mei‧o

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese meio, meo, from Latin medius, from Proto-Italic *meðios, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between”). Compare the borrowed doublets médio and médium. Sense of "way" or "mean" from Latin medium.

Alternative forms

• meyo (obsolete)

Adjective

meio (feminine meia, masculine plural meios, feminine plural meias, not comparable)

1. half

Derived terms

• meia de leite
• meia hora
• meia-noite
• meia-volta
• meio milhão
• meio-dia

Related terms

• meão
• mear

Adverb

meio

1. a little bit, somewhat

   Synonym: um pouco

   Estou meio cansado. ― I'm a little bit tired.

2. almost

Derived terms

• meio-gordo

Noun

meio m (plural meios)

1. middle, center
2. half

   Synonym: metade

3. way, mean (method by which something is done)
4. environment

   Synonym: ambiente

5. (in the plural) resources, means

Derived terms

• meiinho
• meio ambiente
• meio social

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

meio

1. first-person singular present indicative of mear

Further reading

• “meio”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “meio”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026