What does met mean?
Met is the past tense and past participle of meet, meaning that two people or groups came together or that someone encountered an experience, person, or obstacle. It also means to reach a standard or goal: a plan can meet a deadline, and a result can meet expectations. Because met is an irregular form, it is normally used in past contexts or after an auxiliary verb such as has or was. The word has a long history: it comes from Old English mētan, “to come together,” and related forms include meeting and mete. In informal usage, met can also mean metropolitan, as in met police. The simple vowel sound and irregular past form make met especially memorable: it is the short, changed form of one of English’s most familiar verbs.
The past tense and past participle of meet.
"We met at the station before taking the train together."
It is an irregular inflected form and is used in past contexts or after an auxiliary verb such as has or was.
Informal, meaning metropolitan.
"The met area includes several surrounding towns."
This use is chiefly informal and is often associated with metropolitan police or metropolitan areas.
Met is one short word with three big moves: joining someone, encountering something, and reaching a target.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of met
Met is the past tense and past participle of meet, whose Old English ancestor was mētan, meaning “to come together, meet, or approach.” The verb belongs to the Germanic family and is related in origin to mete, an old word for measuring or allotting by measure; meeting is a later derivative of the same Old English verb. In modern English, met preserves the older sense of coming together while its idiomatic uses extend to encounters and reaching standards or goals.
Related word forms
How met is actually used
Met is an irregular past form of meet and is normally used in past contexts or after an auxiliary verb such as has or was. In informal usage, met can also be an adjective meaning metropolitan.
Easily confused with met
Met is the past tense and past participle of meet, whereas mettle means courage or determination.
Met is pronounced like the word bet, while mete means to allot or distribute and is usually pronounced like meat.