metan

• methan

Borrowed from French méthane and German Methan.

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɛtan]

metan m inan

1. (chemistry) methane (CH₄)

   Synonym: karban

• etan m
• propan m
• butan m
• pentan m
• hexan m
• heptan m
• oktan m
• nonan m
• dekan m
• undekan m
• dodekan m

• “metan”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “metan”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “metan”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

metan

1. inflection of meter:
   1. third-person plural present subjunctive
   2. third-person plural imperative

Borrowed from French méthane and German Methan.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛːtʰaːn/

metan n (genitive singular metans, no plural)

1. (organic chemistry) methane

• “metan” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)

metan

1. abbreviation of media tanam (“growth medium”)

metan

1. Rōmaji transcription of メタン

metan n (definite singular metanet) (uncountable)

1. (chemistry) methane (chemical symbol CH₄)

• metangass

• “metan” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

• manet, mante, maten, matne, menta, -menta, namet

metan n (definite singular metanet) (uncountable)

1. (chemistry) methane (as above)

• “metan” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• Audio:

  (file)

metan m (uncountable)

1. (chemistry) methane

• Joan de Cantalausa (2006) Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians‎^[1], 2 edition, →ISBN, page 644.
• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 409.

From Proto-West Germanic *metan.

metan

1. to measure

• Middle Dutch: meten
  • Dutch: meten
  • Limburgish: maete

• “metan”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

From Proto-West Germanic *metan, from Proto-Germanic *metaną.

• IPA^(key): /ˈme.tɑn/

metan

1. to measure
2. to compare
   • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Saint Augustine's Soliloquies

     Lōca nu þæt þū ofergemet ne wilnige, nū ðū hī tōgædere metest. Woldest þū cunnan God swā swā Alipius?

     Look to it now that thy desire be not beyond measure, now that thou comparest them together. Wouldst thou know God just as thou dost Alypius?

3. to compare (to something = wiþ + accusative or tō + dative)
   • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy

     Hit nis nā tō metenne, þæt ġeendodlīċe wiþ þæt unġeendodlīċe.

     It's not comparable, the finite with the infinite.

• For the phrase “compared to,” wiþ is used by itself (Hū earfoþe is Crēċisċ wiþ Lǣden? = “How hard is Greek compared to Latin?”), or with the phrase tō metenne (Hwæt eart þū wiþ mē tō metenne? = “What are you compared to me?”, literally “to compare with me”).

• Middle English: meten
  • Scots: mete, meit
  • English: mete

From Proto-West Germanic *mōtijan, from Proto-Germanic *mōtijaną.

• mœ̄tan — Anglian

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeː.tɑn/

mētan (West Saxon)

1. to meet, encounter
2. to find

• ġemētan

• Middle English: meten
  • English: meet
  • Scots: mete, meit

Uncertain. Perhaps from Proto-West Germanic *maitijan (“to sculpt”), from Proto-Germanic *maitijaną, a byform of Proto-Germanic *maitaną (“to cut”). Compare Old High German meizan (“to hew, cut, chisel”), Old Norse meita (“to cut”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (maitan, “to cut”). Doublet of mǣtan (“to appear in a dream”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeː.tɑn/

mētan

1. to draw or paint

• *tīefran (“to paint”)

• āmētan
• ġemētan
• mēting
• onmētan

• Middle English: meten (“to sculpt, design; paint”)

From Proto-West Germanic *metan.

metan

1. to measure
2. to mete

• Low German: meten

From French méthane and German Methan.

• IPA^(key): /meˈtaŋ/

metan m

1. methane (CH₄)

Borrowed from French méthane and German Methan.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.tan/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛtan
• Syllabification: me‧tan

metan m inan

1. methane (CH₄)

• metan in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• metan in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Borrowed from French méthane.

• IPA^(key): /meˈtan/

metan n (uncountable)

1. (chemistry) methane (CH₄)

• “metan”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

Borrowed from French méthane and German Methan.

• IPA^(key): /mětaːn/
• Hyphenation: me‧tan

mètān m inan (Cyrillic spelling мѐта̄н)

1. (chemistry, uncountable) methane (CH₄)

metán

1. past passive participle of metáti

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Hard
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nom. sing.	metan	metana	metano
singular
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	metan ind metani def	metana	metano
genitive	metanega	metane	metanega
dative	metanemu	metani	metanemu
accusative	nominativeinan or genitiveanim	metano	metano
locative	metanem	metani	metanem
instrumental	metanim	metano	metanim
dual
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	metana	metani	metani
genitive	metanih	metanih	metanih
dative	metanima	metanima	metanima
accusative	metana	metani	metani
locative	metanih	metanih	metanih
instrumental	metanima	metanima	metanima
plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	metani	metane	metana
genitive	metanih	metanih	metanih
dative	metanim	metanim	metanim
accusative	metane	metane	metana
locative	metanih	metanih	metanih
instrumental	metanimi	metanimi	metanimi

metan

1. inflection of meter:
   1. third-person plural present subjunctive
   2. third-person plural imperative

From French méthane.

• IPA^(key): /mɛˈtɑːn/

metan n (uncountable)

1. (chemistry) methane (CH₄)

• sumpgas
• gruvgas

• metan in Svenska Akademiens ordlista över svenska språket (14th ed., online)

• manet, maten, menat, teman

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(ma-)qitəm, compare Malay hitam.

metan

1. black