metan

See also: metán

Czech

Alternative forms

• methan

Etymology

Borrowed from French méthane and German Methan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɛtan]

Noun

metan m inan

1. (chemistry) methane (CH₄)

   Synonym: karban

   Coordinate terms: etan, propan, butan, pentan, hexan, heptan, oktan, nonan, dekan, undekan, dodekan

Declension

Declension of metan (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	metan	metany
genitive	metanu	metanů
dative	metanu	metanům
accusative	metan	metany
vocative	metane	metany
locative	metanu	metanech
instrumental	metanem	metany

Further reading

• “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), 2008–2026

Galician

Verb

metan

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

Icelandic

Etymology

Borrowed from French méthane and German Methan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛːtʰaːn/

Noun

metan n (genitive singular metans, no plural)

1. (organic chemistry) methane

Declension

Declension of metan (sg-only neuter)

	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	metan	metanið
accusative	metan	metanið
dative	metani	metaninu
genitive	metans	metansins

Further reading

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

Indonesian

Noun

metan

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

Japanese

Romanization

metan

1. Rōmaji transcription of メタン

Norwegian Bokmål

metan

Noun

metan n (definite singular metanet) (uncountable)

1. (chemistry) methane (chemical symbol CH₄)

Derived terms

• metangass

References

• “metan” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Anagrams

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

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

metan n (definite singular metanet) (uncountable)

1. (chemistry) methane (as above)

References

• “metan” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Occitan

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Noun

metan m (uncountable)

1. (chemistry) methane

Further reading

• Joan de Cantalausa (2006), Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians‎^[1], 2nd edition, →ISBN, page 644
• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana‎^[2], L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2025, page 409

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *metan.

Verb

metan

1. to measure

Inflection

Conjugation of metan (strong class 5)

infinitive	metan
indicative	present	past
1st person singular	meto, meton	mat
2nd person singular	mitis	māti
3rd person singular	mitit	mat
1st person plural	metun	māton
2nd person plural	metit	mātot
3rd person plural	metunt	māton
subjunctive	present	past
1st person singular	mete	māti
2nd person singular	metis	māti
3rd person singular	mete	māti
1st person plural	metin	mātin
2nd person plural	metit	mātit
3rd person plural	metin	mātin
imperative	present
singular	met, mit
plural	metit
participle	present	past
	metandi	metan, gimetan

Descendants

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

Further reading

• “metan”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old English

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈme.tɑn/
• Rhymes: -e.tɑn

Verb

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.

Usage notes

• 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”).

Conjugation

Conjugation of metan (strong, class V)

infinitive	metan	metenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	mete	mæt
second person singular	mitst	mǣte
third person singular	mitt, mit	mæt
plural	metaþ	mǣton
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	mete	mǣte
plural	meten	mǣten
imperative
singular	met
plural	metaþ
participle	present	past
	metende	(ġe)meten

Derived terms

• āmetan
• bemetan
• efnmetan
• ġemet
• ġemetan
• metegian
• wiþmetan

Descendants

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

Etymology 2

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

Alternative forms

• mœ̄tan — Anglian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeː.tɑn/
• Rhymes: -eː.tɑn

Verb

mētan (West Saxon)

1. to meet, encounter
2. to find

Conjugation

Conjugation of mētan (weak, class 1)

infinitive	mētan	mētenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	mēte	mētte
second person singular	mētest, mētst	mēttest
third person singular	mēteþ, mētt, mēt	mētte
plural	mētaþ	mētton
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	mēte	mētte
plural	mēten	mētten
imperative
singular	mēt
plural	mētaþ
participle	present	past
	mētende	(ġe)mēted

Derived terms

• ġemētan

Descendants

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

Etymology 3

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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeː.tɑn/
• Rhymes: -eː.tɑn

Verb

mētan

1. to draw or paint

Conjugation

Conjugation of mētan (weak, class 1)

infinitive	mētan	mētenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	mēte	mētte
second person singular	mētest, mētst	mēttest
third person singular	mēteþ, mētt, mēt	mētte
plural	mētaþ	mētton
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	mēte	mētte
plural	mēten	mētten
imperative
singular	mēt
plural	mētaþ
participle	present	past
	mētende	(ġe)mēted

Synonyms

• *tīefran (“to paint”)

Derived terms

• āmētan
• ġemētan
• mēting
• onmētan

Descendants

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

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *metan.

Verb

metan

1. to measure
2. to mete

Conjugation

Conjugation of metan (strong class 5)

infinitive	metan
indicative	present	past
1st person singular	mitu	mat
2nd person singular	mitis	māti
3rd person singular	mitid	mat
plural	metad	mātun
subjunctive	present	past
1st person singular	mete	māti
2nd person singular	metes	mātis
3rd person singular	mete	māti
plural	meten	mātin
imperative	present
singular	met
plural	metad
participle	present	past
	mitandi	gimetan, metan

Descendants

• Middle Low German: meten
  • Low German: meten
  • Plautdietsch: mäten

Piedmontese

Etymology

From French méthane and German Methan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meˈtaŋ/

Noun

metan m

1. methane (CH₄)

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from French méthane and German Methan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.tan/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛtan
• Syllabification: me‧tan

Noun

metan m inan

1. methane (CH₄)

Declension

Declension of metan

	singular	plural
nominative	metan	metany
genitive	metanu	metanów
dative	metanowi	metanom
accusative	metan	metany
instrumental	metanem	metanami
locative	metanie	metanach
vocative	metanie	metany

Derived terms

• metanowy

Further reading

• “metan”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “metan”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

Romanian

metan

Etymology

Borrowed from French méthane.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meˈtan/

Noun

metan n (uncountable)

1. (chemistry) methane (CH₄)

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	metan	metanul
genitive-dative	metan	metanului
vocative	metanule

Further reading

• “metan”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from French méthane and German Methan.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

mètān m inan (Cyrillic spelling мѐта̄н)

1. (chemistry, uncountable) methane (CH₄)

Declension

Declension of metan

	singular
nominative	mètān
genitive	metána
dative	metanu
accusative	metan
vocative	metane
locative	metanu
instrumental	metanom

Slovene

Participle

metán

1. past passive participle of metáti

Declension

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

Spanish

Verb

metan

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

Swedish

Etymology

From French méthane.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛˈtɑːn/

Noun

metan n (uncountable)

1. (chemistry) methane (CH₄)

Declension

Declension of metan

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	metan	metans
	definite	metanet	metanets
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Synonyms

• sumpgas
• gruvgas

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• manet, maten, menat, teman

Tetum

Etymology

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

Adjective

metan

1. black

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from either French méthane or German Methan (“methane”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

metan (definite accusative metanı, uncountable)

1. (organic chemistry) methane, one of the most abundant greenhouse gases and a constituent of natural gas

   Synonym: bataklık gazı

Declension

Declension of metan

	singular	plural
nominative	metan	—
definite accusative	metanı	—
dative	metana	—
locative	metanda	—
ablative	metandan	—
genitive	metanın	—

Related terms

• metanol

Further reading

• “metan”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Ayverdi, İlhan (2010), “metan”, in Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük, a reviewed and expanded single-volume edition, Istanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyatı
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “metan”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 3, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 3173
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “metan”, in Nişanyan Sözlük