pref.1. a. Later in time: metestrus.
b. At a later stage of development: metanephros.
2. Situated behind: metacarpus.
3. a. Change; transformation: metachromatism.
b. Alternation: metagenesis.
4. a. More comprehensive: meta-analysis.
b. Describing or showing an awareness of the activity that is taking place or being discussed; self-referential: metafiction.
c. At a higher state of development: metazoan.
5. Having undergone metamorphosis: metasomatic.
6. Chemistry a. Derived from, as an acid, by dehydration: metaphosphoric acid.
b. Of or relating to one of three possible isomers of a benzene ring with two attached chemical groups, in which the carbon atoms with attached groups are separated by one unsubstituted carbon atom: meta-dibromobenzene.