meia

Portuguese

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

 
  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈmej.ɐ/ [ˈmeɪ̯.ɐ]
    • (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈmej.a/ [ˈmeɪ̯.a]
 

  • Audio (Portugal):(file)
  • Audio (Portugal (Porto)):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ejɐ, (Portugal) -ɐjɐ
  • Hyphenation: mei‧a

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

meia

  1. feminine singular of meio

Adverb

meia

  1. (hypercorrect) misconstruction of meio
    *Estou meia cansada. ― I'm a bit tired.
Usage notes
  • The word meia, as an adverb, occurs due to hypercorrection of meio in order to agree in gender with a feminine adjective following it. In standard speech, however, adverbs are never inflected by grammatical gender.

Noun

meia f (plural meias)

  1. (Portugal, historical) obsolete unit of measure for liquids, equivalent to six pints

Etymology 2

Clipping of meia-calça. Compare Catalan mitja and Spanish media for similar developments.

Noun

meia f (plural meias)

  1. sock (covering for the foot)
    Synonyms: (Rio Grande do Sul) carpim, (Portugal) peúga
Derived terms
  • meia de vidro
  • meia elástica
Descendants
  • Kadiwéu: meeya
  • Macanese: mea
  • → Kimbundu: menha

Etymology 3

Ellipsis of meia hora.

Numeral

meia

  2. (when telling time) half past
    O evento termina às três e meia.
    The event ends at half past three.

Etymology 4

Ellipsis of meia dúzia (“half a dozen”).

Numeral

meia

  2. (Brazil) six
    Synonyms: meia-dúzia, seis
Usage notes
  • The word meia is used instead of seis when necessary to avoid confusion with rhyme três (“three”), for example when reading phone numbers.
Derived terms

Etymology 5

Clipping of meia-esquerda and meia-direita.

Noun

meia m or f by sense (plural meias)

  2. (Brazil, soccer) midfielder
    Synonyms: meio-campista, (Portugal) médio

Etymology 6

Clipping of meia-encadernação.

Noun

meia f (plural meias)

  2. synonym of meia-encadernação

Etymology 7

Clipping of meia-entrada.

Noun

meia f (plural meias)

  2. synonym of meia-entrada

Etymology 8

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

meia

  1. inflection of mear:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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