meteoroscope 
With astrolabe and meteoroncope 
I'll Hud the cusp and alfrldarla, 
And know what planet is in Caziini. 
T. Tomku (?), Albumazar, 11. 5. 
meteoroscopyt (mo-tf'-or'o-sko-pi), . [= F. 
HI, ii iifn^i-ii/iii: Sp. mi iinri>xvoi>to; as meteoro- 
.sr/><r 4- -//*.] The uso of the meteoroscope. 
meteorOUSt (me'te-or-un), a. [< Gr. pertapof, 
raided, ou high, in air: see meteor.'] Having 
the nature of a, meteor; meteoric. 
The cherubim descended ; on the ground 
Gliding meteoroui, as evening mint 
Risen from a river o'er thu mat-Mi glides. 
Milton, I". L., xll. 629. 
We must conclude that there are melenroiu beings, 
whose eccentric orbits we know not how to describe. 
/. D' Israeli, Amen, of Lit., II. 890. 
meteor-system (ine-te-or-sis'tert), . A flock 
of small bodies moving together in space and 
acting upon each other by their mutual attrac- 
tions and influences of various kinds. 
Meteorus (tne-te-6'rus), . [NL. (Haliday, 
lH;tf>), < Gr. pcrtupof, in the air, pcrtupov, a me- 
teor: see meteor.] An important genus of hy- 
menopterous parasites, typical of a subfamily 
Meteorinai, with many European and American 
species. .'/. liyphantrite is a parasite of the fall 
web-worm, Hyphantria cunea, of the United 
States. 
metepencephalic (met-ep-en-se-fal'ik or -sef- 
a-lik), . [< mi ir/'i 'in; /ilmlim + -ic.] Of or per- 
taining to tho metepencephalon. 
metepencephalon(met-ep-en-8ef'a-lon), n.; pi. 
iiii-li'/i/'iifi'i>li<il<i (-lit). [NL., < met(encephalon) 
+ i /ii'in / //littl<ni.] A segment of the encepha- 
loii between the myelou and the mesencepha- 
lou; the meteucephalon and epencephalon to- 
gether considered as one segment. B. G. Wilder. 
metepicoele (inet-ep'i-sel), n. [< met(encepha- 
lun) + epicaele.] The cavity of the metepen- 
cephalou ; the fourth ventricle. Also metcpicte- 
lia. Wilder, N. Y. Med. Jour., March 21, 1885, 
p. 327. 
metepimeral (met-e-pim'e-ral), a. [< metepim- 
eron -r- -al.] Of or pertaining to the metepim- 
eron. 
metepimeron (met-e-pim'e-ron), n. ; pi. mete- 
liimcra (-ra). [NL., < Gr'.' ficrd, after, + NL. 
epimeron, q. v.] In entom., the epimeron of the 
metathorax ; the epimeral selerite of the met n - 
pleuron. 
metepisternum (met-ep-i-ster'uum), .; pi. 
metepisterna (-na). [NL., < Gr. ferA, after, + 
NL. episternum, q. v.J In cntom., one of the 
metathoracic episterna. 
meter 1 (me'ter), n. [Formerly also mceter; 
< ME. meter, < AS. "metere (cf. metend, a mea- 
surer) (= D. meter = MLG. meter = OHG. me- 
zari, mezzari, MHG. mezzer, G. messer = Sw. ma- 
tare, a measurer), < metan, measure: see mete 1 . 
In the second sense, ' that which measures, aii 
instrument for measuring,' as in gas-meter, wa- 
ter-meter, etc., the word is partly confused in 
composition with the L. inetrum, < Gr. fitrpov, a 
measure, which is the word involved in the uni- 
tary compounds gasometer, electrometer, geom- 
eter, diameter, perimeter, etc. : see meter*, me- 
ter&.] 1. One who measures; a measurer: as, 
a coal-meter; a land-meter. [Rare.] 
But the aulnager, the weigher, the meeter of grants, will 
not suffer us to acquiesce in the judgment of the prince. 
Burke, Letter to a Noble Lord. 
2. That which measures, or is used for measur- 
ing; specifically, an instrument that wvurds 
or indicates automatically the quantity, force, 
or pressure of a fluid passing through it or ac- 
tuating it : used in composition, as iu gas-meter, 
water-meter (see these words), or aloue when 
the fluid to be measured, as gas or water, is un- 
derstood. 3. In fluhina, one of the two rein- 
forcing ropes of a seine or gill-net, of which one 
is attached to the upper edge and carries the 
floats, and the other to the lower edge and bears 
the weights or sinkers Dry meter, a gas-meter 
employing a bellows-like apparatus and noliqnid. Elec- 
tric meter, sec electric. Electromagnetic-control 
meters, electrical measuring-instruments (such as am- 
pere- ur volt-meters) the indications of which are controlled 
by the magnetic field produced by an electromagnet. In 
current instrument* the electromagnet is usually excited 
by the current to be measured. Grain-meter, any one 
of a variety of automatic grain-measuring machines, by 
which a stream of grain flowing from a chute or hopper ia 
received, and the <(U;mtity dtoMHnd is indicated. Most 
of these grain-meters are automatic wei^liin^-ina.'hines, 
the standard weight of a bnshel of the Kniin being the 
unit of the scale of measurement, or, if the indications are 
In pounds, the latter divided by the weight of a bushel at 
once gives the delivery in bushels. Magnetic-control 
meters, daotromagnetic-eontrol meters with permanent 
magnets substituted for electromagnets. Sprlng-COn- 
trol meters, clectrieal measuring-instruments In which 
8989 
the Indications are controlled by the elastic resistance of 
a spring. (See also ampcrc-mctcr, coulomb-meter, joult- 
meter, volt-meter.) 
meter 1 (me'ter), c. t. [< meter 1 , n.] To measure 
by means of a meter ; test by the use of a meter. 
It was found that the real proportlonsof air and gas were 
not ilrt. i iniiiable, except by metering Itoth. 
Science, III. i:7. 
meter-, metre 1 (me'ter), . [Formerly also 
mi i li r ; < M K. mi ii r. mi tifi-, mi-lri; < OF. metre, 
F. mi-lii- = Sp. l'(j. It. iiii-ln> = AS. imiir }). im- 
ter = OHG. m, tin-, MHO. meter, G. meter = Dan. 
Sw. meter, meter,< L. mi-tnim, meter (of verse) 
(not iu sense of a measure of length), < Gr. //''- 
-/>".'. that by which anything is measured, a mea- 
sure or rule, also a measure of content, a space 
measured or measurable, measure, proportion, 
fltness, meter (of verse) ; with formative -rpov, < 
Vl" = Skt . y '". measure, seen also in L. metiri, 
pp. wi -n.-; measure, modus, measure, and AS. 
metan, E. mete 1 : see mete 1 , mode* , measure. The 
sense of a measure of length is recent, from the 
F., but in coiup. diameter, perimeter, etc., the lit. 
sense ' measure ' is common : see meter 3 and me- 
ter 1 .] 1. (a) Rhythm in language; rhythmic 
language as measurable by prosodic times or 
utterea syllables ; more specifically, arrange- 
ment of language in a succession of rhythmic 
movements, readily appreciable as such by the 
ear; verse, as opposed to prose. Meter in this 
sense is the subject-matter of the science of 
metrics, (b) Measured verse or rhythmic lan- 
guage ; rhythmic language as determined by or 
divided into fixed measures, (i) A measure, foot, or 
dipody. Seeineaxure. [Rare.] (2) A line, verse, or period 
In ancient metrics; specifically, a monocollc verse or a dl- 
colic (or tricolic) period, as opposed to a hypennetron. Me- 
ters are called monometer*, dimeter*, trimeter*, etc., accord- 
Ing to the number of measures In a verse, also acatalectic, 
catalectic, brachycatalectic, etc., meters, according to the 
completeness or incompleteness of the feet or measures. 
(3) A kind of verse ; a particular variety of poetic rhythm, 
as expressed by the kind of feet of which the verse con- 
sists : as, Iambic, dactylic, Ionic meter; a particular form 
of metrical composition : as, Alcaic meter, elegiac meter. In 
ancient metrics meters were called monoid, pure, or xi'w- 
/>/' meter* when they consisted of one kind of foot through- 
out, compound or epwynthetie meter* when composed of 
cola of different kinds of feet, mixed meter* when uniting 
different kinds of feet within the same colon. 
Lasciuious Meeter*, to whose venom sound 
The open eare of youth doth always listen. 
Shak., Rich. II. (folio 162SX II- 1. 19. 
According to the number of the sillables contained in 
euery verse, the same is sayd a long or short metier, and 
his shortest proportion is of foure sillables, and his longest 
Of twellle. I'nttrii/taiii, Arte of Eng. l'iic-ic. P. 68. 
Rhime being no necessary adjunct or true ornament of 
poem or good verse, In longer works especially, but the 
Invention of a barbarous age, to set off wretched matter 
and lame mteter. Milton, f. L. , fret. 
Metre may be defined to be a succession of poetical feet 
arranged in regular order, according to certain types rec- 
ognized as standards, In verses of a determinate length. 
0. P. Marsh, Lecta. on Eng. Lang., xxv. 
meth 
2. In iiHinii; the division of a composition 
into parts of equal time- value and of similar 
essential rhythmic structure. The smallest part 
thus indicated* Is that between successive primary ac- 
cents, and is called a meaxure ; in printed music this Is 
marked by a bar before each primary accent. But meter 
Includes also, in a general way, the division of a piece 
Into equal and similar parts of more than one measure, 
such parts being called phrases or ttrnphe*. In this 
sense musical meter has obvious analogies with meter in 
verse, though the analogies cannot always be pressed with 
safety, especially as the nomenclature is not strictly par- 
allel. (See met ric*2, 2. ) Rhythmm&y be distinguished from 
meter in that it deals primarily with the accents and the 
typical and actual accentual patterns, which meter gathers 
into groups and sections in accordance with their time- 
value. This distinction, however. Is not always observed 
or even acknowledged. .Sometimes the meaning of the 
terra is reversed, rhythm being made a matter of time, and 
meter one of accent. Sometimes, too, the two terms are 
made entirely interchangeable. 
3. In Emj. liymnology, a pattern of versifica- 
tion, including the structure of the prosodical 
feet used, the grouping of those feet into lines, 
and the grouping of lines into stanzas or stro- 
phes, popularly called rersrs. See foot and ter- 
sitirdtion. According to the kind of feet used, meters 
are usually either Iambic, trochaic, or dactylic. The prin- 
cipal iambic meters are : Common Meter (C. M.), having al- 
ternately eight and six syllables to the line ; Long Meter 
(I- M.\ having eight syllables to the line ; and Short Meter 
(S. M.), having two lines of six syllables, followed by one 
of eight, and then by another of six. Each of these meters 
has properly four lines to the stanza, so that their syllabic 
scheme is as follows : 0. M., 8, 6, 8, t) ; L. M., 8, 8, 8, 8; S. 
M., 6, 6, 8, 6. Each of them may also be doubled, so as to 
make eight-lined stanzas, the meter then being ealled Com- 
mon Meter Double (C. M. D.), Long Meter Double (L. M. D.), 
or Short Meter Double (S. M. D.). Long meter may also have 
six lines to the stanza, and is then called Long Meter, Six 
Lines, or Lomj Particular Meter (I,. P.M.). with the syl- 
labic scheme 8. 8, 8, 8, 8, 8. Other meters of this clan are 
OH Particular Meter (<". P. M.), 8, 8, 8, 8, 8. 6 ; Sh'irt 
/'articular Meter (S, p. .M.), 6, 6, 8, , , 8 ; UalMvjah Mr- 
t*r (H. M.), , 0, n, 9, 8, 8 (or 0, 0, , 0, 4, 4, 4, 4); Seven* and 
Six**, 7, 6, 7, 6: Tent, 10, 10, 10, 10; etc. The principal 
trochaie meter* an Seven*, 7, 7, 7, 7 ; Kight* and Setrni, 8, 
7,8,7; Staa, ,,, 9; Sixet and Fittt, (J5,<\5; etc. I he 
principal dactylic meter* are Eleven*, 11, 11, 11, 11 ; Klec- 
eniand Tens, 11, 10, 11, 10; etc. Numerous modifications 
of these schemes occur, especially in recent hymns. Ac- 
centual meters. se accentual. Hipponactean me- 
ter, Hymenalc meter, Ionic meter. See the adjec- 
tive*. In short meter, short meter, <iuickly ; In short 
order. (U.S.) 
This goln' ware glory waits ye haint one agreeable feetur, 
An' if it worn't for wakln' snakes. I'd home again fhort 
meter. /xnreU, Blglow Papen, 2d ser., U. 
Laconic meter, nee laconic, a. . 8. Quantitative me- 
ters. See accentual meter*, under accentual. 
meter 3 , metre- (me'ter), . [Also sometimes, 
as mere F., metre; = Sp. Pg. It. metro (after 
F.), < F. metre = D. G. Sw. Dan. meter, < L. 
metrum, < Gr. /ifrpav, a measure: see meter'*.] 
The fundamental unit of length of the French 
metrical system. It Is the distance, at the melting- 
temperature of Ice, between the ends of a certain platinum 
bar preserved in Paris, and called the metre de* ArcMee*. 
It was intended to be one ten- million! h part of the earth's 
meridian quadrant, and to lie 448.296 lines of the tolse of 
Peru, from which it really differs by a very small amount. 
The meter is equal to 89.87027 Inches according to Prof eaior 
Rogers, and to 89.86986 Inches according to General Corn- 
stock. A new meter has been established by the princi- 
pal nations, which Is denned by the length at the melt 
ing-pofnt of ice between two lines drawn on a bar of pla- 
tlniridium, which Is to be kept at the International Bu- 
reau of Weights and Measures at the paritton de Breteuil 
near Sevres, France. This new meter Is to be as nearly 
as possible of the same length aa the old one. Abbrevi- 
ated m. 
meterage (me'ter-aj), n. [< meteri + -age.] 
1. The act of measuring. 2. Measurement; 
the result of measuring. 3. A charge for 
measuring. 
meterert (me'tcr-er), H. [< meter? + -eri.] 
One who writes in meter; a poet. Dray ton. 
meterlyt (me'ter-li), adv. [ME. melrely : < me- 
ter? + -lyu.] Metrically. 
Be It In balede, uers, rime, or prose, 
lie most torn and wend, metrtly to close. 
.fiom. o/ Partenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 6666. 
mete-rodt, [Early mod. E. tiieetrodde, metnxl; 
< mete 1 + rod.] A measuring-rod. 
The meetrodde that he hadde In his hande was syxe 
cubytes louge and a spanne. Bible o/ 1551, Ezek. xl 5. 
meter-prover (me'ter-pro'ver), . A register- 
ing holder, or a gas-tank of known capacity, 
used for testing the accuracy of gas-meters. 
meter-wheel (me'ter-hwel), n. A drum or hol- 
low wheel with several chambers, to which air 
or other gas is admitted through a tube in the 
axle. In use, the wheel is Immersed in water above Its 
axis, and the gas, tilling each chamber successively, causes 
the chamber tilled to rise and the wheel to revolve, when 
the gas Is discharged above the level of the water by au 
opening. The chambers are of known capacity, and the 
revolutions of the wheel are recorded on dials. Such 
wheels are used in gas-meters, in which the pressure of 
the gas flowing through the meter gives the driving 
power. 
meteselt, . [ME., < AS. mete, meat, + gel, 
time.] Dinner-time. Hnllitcell. 
metesthetic (met-es-thet'ik), a. [Also m, t- 
tpsthetic; < Gr. uerd, after, + aiaOr/rof, verbal 
adj. of aioOavcoOai, perceive: see archesthetic.] 
Pertaining to the hypothesis of metesthetism. 
metesthetism (met-es'the-tizm), w. [Also met- 
(vxthetixm; < metesthetic + -wm.] The monistic 
hypothesis that consciousness is an attribute of 
matter, and a product of the evolution of mat- 
ter and force : opposed to archesthetism. 
metestick (met stik), n. Xaut., a stick fixed 
on a board at right angles, used to measure 
the height of the hold of a ship, and to level 
the ball:i-t. 
metewand (met'wond), n. [Formerly also nt,t- 
ii-ii, ul; < ME. metewand; < mete 1 + tcand.] A 
measuring-staff, yardstick, etc. ; any rod or 
stick used to measure length. [Archaic.] 
He reformed the olde vntrue measures, and made a mea- 
sure by the length of his own arme, which was then called 
vlna, an elle, and now the same Is called a yard, or a met- 
tranrf. Stmc, Hen. L, an. 1102. 
No fitting nwfemznd hath To-day 
For measuring spirits of thy stature. 
LoKrll, To Lamartine. 
meteyardt (met'yard), n. [< ME. meteyarde, < 
AS. mi ti/inl. mctayrd, metgeard, a measuring- 
rod, < gemet, measure, + ayrd, rod : see mete 1 
and yard 1 .] A metewand a yard in length. 
Take thon the bill, give me thy mete-yard, and spare not 
me. Skat., T. of the a, IT. 8. 168. 
meteynt, A Middle English form of mitten. 
t'liinii-cr. 
meth't, H. [ME.. < AS. miftli, measure, degree, 
)irn]iortion, ability, rank, due measure, right, 
