To distribute, allot, or measure out something in portions; to dispense or give punishment.
From Old English 'metan' meaning 'to measure,' related to the word 'meter' (a unit of measurement). The sense of 'measuring out punishment' developed in the Middle Ages from the literal idea of carefully measured portions.
The phrase 'mete out justice' preserves an old metaphor—justice as something that must be carefully measured and distributed, like a precious resource divided into exact portions, connecting law to mathematics and fairness.
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