meu

See also: meü and MEU

English

Etymology 1

Meu

From Latin mēum (“umbelliferous plant, Meum athamanticum”), from Ancient Greek μῆον (mêon), probably from μεῖον (meîon, “lesser”) for its small size. The English form came perhaps via Middle French meu, a word with a single isolated attestation from the 14th century which only began to appear consistently from 1568, by which time the word was established in English.

Alternative forms

• (rare) mew

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmjuː/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmju/
• Rhymes: -uː

Noun

meu (uncountable)

1. Meum athamanticum, a European herb.

   Synonyms: meon, meum, baldmoney, spignel, bearwort

Translations

Meum athamanticum — see baldmoney

References

• Meum athamanticum on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Meum athamanticum on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Category:Meum athamanticum on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Fon mɛ̀wú (“meu”).

Alternative forms

• Meu
• mehu, Mehu

Noun

meu (plural meus)

1. (historical) The second minister of the Kingdom of Dahomey.

   Coordinate term: migan

Anagrams

• EMU, UME, Ume, emu, mue, ume

Aromanian

Alternative forms

• a meu
• (a) njeu

Etymology

From Latin meus, from Proto-Italic *meos. Compare Romanian meu.

Pronoun

meu m (feminine mea or meaea, masculine plural mei, feminine plural meali or meale)

1. my; first-person masculine singular possessive pronoun

Usage notes

Always preceded by 'a'- "a meu".

Related terms

• miui
• nju

See also

• (a) tãu
• (a) lui, (a) ljei
• (a) nostru
• (a) vostru
• (a) lor

Catalan

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Catalan meu, from Latin meum, from Proto-Italic *meos. The feminine form was mia in Old Catalan, but this was extended to meva or meua by analogy with the masculine form. This happened because the -u was not understood as a masculine ending anymore, having been lost in nouns (unlike Spanish, Portuguese and Italian -o).

The weak possessive mon is also from Latin meum, but as an unstressed monosyllabic form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈmew]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

Pronoun

meu (feminine meva or meua, masculine plural meus, feminine plural meves or meues)

1. my, mine

Usage notes

• When preceding a noun, meu is always preceded by the appropriate definite article.

  el meu gos ― my dog

• Also used after some prepositions:

  dins meu ― inside me

  davant meu ― in front of me

Declension

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics

			strong/subject	weak (direct object)		weak (indirect object)		possessive
				proclitic	enclitic	proclitic	enclitic
singular	1st person	standard	jo, mi3	em, m’	-me, ’m	em, m’	-me, ’m	meu
		majestic1	nós	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	tu	et, t’	-te, ’t	et, t’	-te, ’t	teu
		formal1	vós	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		very formal2	vostè	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
	3rd person	m	ell	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
		f	ella	la, l’4	-la	li	-li	seu
		n		ho	-ho	li	-li	seu
plural
	1st person		nosaltres	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	vosaltres	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		formal2	vostès	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
	3rd person	m	ells	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
		f	elles	les	-les	els	-los, ’ls	seu
3rd person reflexive			si	es, s’	-se, ’s	es, s’	-se, ’s	seu
adverbial	ablative/genitive			en, n’	-ne, ’n
	locative			hi	-hi

¹ Behaves grammatically as plural.   ² Behaves grammatically as third person.
³ Only as object of a preposition.   ⁴ Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

See also

• mon

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

Alternative forms

• mèu (pre-2016 spelling)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈmɛw]

Interjection

meu

1. meow

Noun

meu m (plural meus)

1. meow

   Synonym: miol

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Latin mēum.

Alternative forms

• mèu (pre-2016 spelling)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈmɛw]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) unknown
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈmew]

Noun

meu m (plural meus)

1. baldmoney, spignel

Further reading

• “meu” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “meu” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Fala

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese medo, inherited from Latin metus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeu̯/
• Rhymes: -eu̯
• Syllabification: meu

Noun

meu m (plural meus)

1. fear

References

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021) Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎^[1], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN

Galician

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese meu, from Latin meus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmew/, /ˈmɛw/

Determiner

meu m (masculine plural meus, feminine singular miña, feminine plural miñas)

1. First-person singular possessive determiner.
   1. my (belonging to, associated with, related to, or in the possession of me)

      Este é o meu coche ― This is my car

Pronoun

meu m (masculine plural meus, feminine singular miña, feminine plural miñas)

1. First-person singular possessive pronoun.
   1. mine (used predicatively)

      Este coche é meu. ― This car is mine.

   2. mine (used substantively, with an implied noun)

      Non teño moito, pero o meu é suficiente para vivir. ― I don't have much, but mine is enough to live on.

Interjection

meu

1. man; dude; pal; bro

   Éche o que hai, meu. Hai que roelo ― Things are like that, bro. You must face it

   Meu! Fixéchelo! ― Dude! You did it!

See also

Galician possessives

			singular		plural
			masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
singular	first person		meu	miña	meus	miñas
	second person		teu	túa	teus	túas
	third person	any	seu	súa	seus	súas
		m	del
		f	dela
plural	first person		noso	nosa	nosos	nosas
	second person		voso	vosa	vosos	vosas
	third person	any	seu	súa	seus	súas
		m	deles
		f	delas

• Appendix:Galician pronouns

References

• “meu”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “meu”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “meu”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “meu”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “meu”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “meu”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Ligurian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μῶλος (môlos), μόλος (mólos), itself from Latin mōlēs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /møː/

Noun

meu m (invariable)

1. jetty, pier, mole
   • 1984, “Sidón”, in Fabrizio De André (lyrics), Mauro Pagani (music), Crêuza de mâ [Muletrack by the sea], performed by Fabrizio De André:

     E dòpp'i færi in gôa, i færi da prixón / e 'nte ferîe a seménsa velenóza da deportaçión / perché de nòstro, da-a cianûa a-o meu / no peu ciù crésce ni èrbo, ni spîga, ni figeu

     And after the iron in the throat, the iron of the prison, and the poisonous seed of deportation inside the wounds, because no tree, or spike, or boy of ours is allowed to grow any longer, from the plain to the pier

Old Catalan

Etymology

From Latin meum.

Adjective

meu (feminine mia, masculine plural meus, feminine plural mies)

1. my, mine

   Synonym: mon

Descendants

• Catalan: meu

Old French

Alternative forms

• meü (diaereses not universally used in transcriptions of Old French)

Verb

meu

1. past participle of movoir

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese meu, from Latin meus, from Proto-Italic *meos.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /mew/ [meʊ̯]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mew/

• (Alentejo, Algarve, Azores, Madeira, unstressed) IPA^(key): [me]
• Hyphenation: meu

• Audio (São Paulo):

  (file)

Determiner

meu (feminine minha, masculine plural meus, feminine plural minhas)

1. my (belonging to, associated with, related to, or in the possession of me)

   O meu computador deu tela azul. ― My computer bluescreened.

   Ainda não recebi o meu dinheiro. ― I still haven't received my money.

   O meu pai veio me visitar. ― My father came to visit me.

   Tenho que devolver os meus livros pra biblioteca logo.

   I have to take my books back to the library soon.

   • 2002, Maria Cecília de Souza Minayo, Carlos E. A. Coimbra Jr., Antropologia, Saúde e Envelhecimento, SciELO Books, Editora FIOCRUZ, →ISBN, page 81:

     Ah, hoje o individualismo tomou conta da população. Cada um ‘primeiro eu’, depois eu, depois eu, depois eu, depois a minha mãe... e olhe lá. E olhe lá... Não, hoje a coisa tá desse jeito. Por incrível que pareça... é verdade.

     Today, individualism has taken over the population. Everyone ‘me first’, then me, then me, then me, then my mother... at best. At best... No, that's the way it is today. Incredible as it may seem... it's true.

   • 2007, Robson André, Inutaoshi: "A Presa do Lobo", Clube de Autores, page 141:

     Retirei o meu obi, junto com Ootsuka, e o depositei sobre o capim baixo. Arrumei o meu kimono, que estava em farrapos, junto ao corpo e comecei a vestir a minha proteção.

     I took off my obi, along with Ootsuka, and laid it on the low grass. I arranged my kimono, which was in tatters, next to my body and began to put on my protection.

   • 2012, Vanessa de Oliveira, Psicopatas do coração, Matrix Editora, →ISBN, page 110:

     Liguei meu notebook para ver as mensagens do dia. Aos poucos eu estava voltando a responder os e-mails de meus leitores.

     I turned on my laptop to check the day's messages. Little by little I was getting back to answering my readers' emails.

   • 2015, György Dragomán, O Rei Branco, Editora Intrinseca, →ISBN, page 85:

     […] abriu a gaveta do armário, pegou um alfinete de segurança, parou diante de mim, tirou a medalha da minha mão e se curvou e a pôs no meu colete, […]

     […] opened the cupboard drawer, took out a safety pin, stopped in front of me, took the medal from my hand and bent down and put it in my vest, […]

Pronoun

meu (feminine minha, masculine plural meus, feminine plural minhas)

1. mine (used predicatively)

   A casa em si é minha, mas o terreno não é.

   The house itself is mine, but the land isn't.

2. mine (used absolutely, set off from the sentence)

   Minha por só uma semana, a caneta-tinteiro já parece um velho amigo.

   Mine for only a week so far, the fountain pen already feels like an old friend.

Noun

meu m (plural meus, feminine minha, feminine plural minhas)

1. (with the definite article) mine (used substantively, with an implied noun)

   Não tenho muito, mas o meu é suficiente para se viver.

   I don't have much, but mine is enough to live on.

Interjection

meu!

2. (Portugal, Brazil, slang, chiefly São Paulo) hey; oi (used vocatively to draw someone’s attention)
4. (Brazil, slang) whoa (used to express surprise)
6. (Portugal, slang) dude

See also

Portuguese possessives

			singular possessum		plural possessum
			masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
singular possessor	first person		meu	minha	meus	minhas
	second person		teu	tua	teus	tuas
	third person	any	seu	sua	seus	suas
		m	dele
		f	dela
plural possessor	first person		nosso	nossa	nossos	nossas
	second person		vosso	vossa	vossos	vossas
	third person	any	seu	sua	seus	suas
		m	deles
		f	delas

Romanian

Alternative forms

• meŭ — old orthography

Etymology

Inherited from Latin meus, from Proto-Italic *meos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mew/

• Audio:

  (file)

Determiner

meu m or n (feminine singular mea, masculine plural mei, feminine and neuter plural mele)

1. (genitive form of eu used as a possessive determiner) my

Declension

Declension of meuindefinite only

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	meu		mea		mei	mele
	definite	—		—		—	—
genitive- dative	indefinite	meu		mele		mei	mele
	definite	—		—		—	—

Pronoun

meu m or n

1. (preceded by "al") mine

See also

• lor
• nostru
• său, lui
• tău
• vostru

Sardinian

Etymology

From Latin meus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeu/

Pronoun

meu (plural meos, feminine mea, feminine plural meas)

1. my, mine

Related terms

• tuu/tou/tuo
• suu/sou/suo
• nostru
• bostru/vostru
• issoro

Sassarese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeu/

Determiner

meu (feminine singular mea, plural mei)

1. Alternative form of méiu
   • 1989, Giovanni Maria Cherchi, “Turrendi a bidda mea [Going back to my town]”, in La poesia di l'althri (overall work in Italian and Sassarese), Sassari: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, page 89:

     E canti volthi, o bidda mea natiba,
     soggu giuntu a zirchà
     da te li cosi mei chi v’aggiu pessu

     And how many times, o native town of mine, have I come to you looking for the things that I have lost here

   • 2020 March 25, Ignazio Sanna, “Di nomme fozzu Asdrubale [My name is Asdrubale]”, in Ignazio Sanna - Prosa e poesia in sassarese‎^[2]:

     Lu méu nascimèntu l’abìa dinunziaddu sóru in municipiu

     She [my mother] declared my birth only at the register office

Pronoun

meu m (feminine singular mea, masculine and feminine plural mei)

1. Alternative form of méiu

References

• Rubattu, Antoninu (2006) Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes

Zou

Meu.

Etymology

Onomatopoeic. Compare Khumi Chin mibawi and Chinese 貓 / 猫 (māo).

Noun

meu

1. cat (Felis catus)

References

• Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 65