meath

See also: Meath and meath-

English

Noun

meath

1. Obsolete form of mead (“the drink”).

Anagrams

• hemat-, thema, Thame, tameh, Hatem, thame, Mehta

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mʲa(h)/
• Homophone: meá (some pronunciations)

Etymology 1

From Old Irish methaid (“to degenerate”).

Verb

meath (present analytic meathann, future analytic meathfaidh, verbal noun meath, past participle meata)

1. (intransitive) decline, decay, fail, deteriorate
2. (transitive) waste, fritter away

Conjugation

conjugation of meath (first conjugation – A)

verbal noun	meath
past participle	meata
tense	singular			plural			relative	autonomous
	first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative
present	meathaim	meathann tú; meathair†	meathann sé, sí	meathaimid	meathann sibh	meathann siad; meathaid†	a mheathann; a mheathas / a meathann*	meatar
past	mheath mé; mheathas	mheath tú; mheathais	mheath sé, sí	mheathamar; mheath muid	mheath sibh; mheathabhair	mheath siad; mheathadar	a mheath / ar mheath*	meathadh
past habitual	mheathainn / meathainn‡‡	mheatá / meatᇇ	mheathadh sé, sí / meathadh sé, s퇇	mheathaimis; mheathadh muid / meathaimis‡‡; meathadh muid‡‡	mheathadh sibh / meathadh sibh‡‡	mheathaidís; mheathadh siad / meathaidís‡‡; meathadh siad‡‡	a mheathadh / a meathadh*	mheataí / meata퇇
future	meathfaidh mé; meathfad	meathfaidh tú; meathfair†	meathfaidh sé, sí	meathfaimid; meathfaidh muid	meathfaidh sibh	meathfaidh siad; meathfaid†	a mheathfaidh; a mheathfas / a meathfaidh*	meathfar
conditional	mheathfainn / meathfainn‡‡	mheathfá / meathfᇇ	mheathfadh sé, sí / meathfadh sé, s퇇	mheathfaimis; mheathfadh muid / meathfaimis‡‡; meathfadh muid‡‡	mheathfadh sibh / meathfadh sibh‡‡	mheathfaidís; mheathfadh siad / meathfaidís‡‡; meathfadh siad‡‡	a mheathfadh / a meathfadh*	mheathfaí / meathfa퇇
subjunctive
present	go meatha mé; go meathad†	go meatha tú; go meathair†	go meatha sé, sí	go meathaimid; go meatha muid	go meatha sibh	go meatha siad; go meathaid†	—	go meatar
past	dá meathainn	dá meatá	dá meathadh sé, sí	dá meathaimis; dá meathadh muid	dá meathadh sibh	dá meathaidís; dá meathadh siad	—	dá meataí
imperative
–	meathaim	meath	meathadh sé, sí	meathaimis	meathaigí; meathaidh†	meathaidís	—	meatar

* indirect relative
† archaic or dialect form
‡‡ dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis

Etymology 2

From Old Irish meth (“decay”).

Noun

meath m (genitive singular meatha)

1. verbal noun of meath
2. decline, decay, decadence; failure

Declension

Declension of meath (third declension, no plural)

bare forms singular nominative meath vocative a mheath genitive meatha dative meath forms with the definite article singular nominative an meath genitive an mheatha dative leis an meath don mheath

Synonyms

• (decline, decay, failure): meathlú

Derived terms

• aghaidh mheata (“pale, thin, face”)
• croí meata (“faint, craven, heart”)
• gníomh meata (“cowardly, dastardly, deed”)
• meath na seanaoise (“senile decay”)
• meath uirbeach (“urban blight”)

Etymology 3

Noun

meath m (genitive singular meath)

1. Alternative form of meá (“balance, scales; weight, measure; equivalent; equal, match; estimation, judgment; measure, expedient”)

Declension

Declension of meath (fourth declension, no plural)

bare forms singular nominative meath vocative a mheath genitive meath dative meath forms with the definite article singular nominative an meath genitive an mheath dative leis an meath don mheath

Mutation

Mutated forms of meath

radical	lenition	eclipsis
meath	mheath	not applicable

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “meath”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN