Have you ever typed “meating” when you meant “meeting”? You’re not alone. The two spellings look almost identical, and the single vowel difference can easily slip past you when you’re typing quickly. However, meating vs meeting isn’t simply a matter of choosing between two interchangeable spellings. In standard modern English, these forms have very different status and uses.
The word meeting is the standard spelling when you mean a gathering, appointment, encounter, or the act of coming together. It’s also the -ing form of the verb “meet.” For example, you can meet a friend, meet a client, or meet a deadline. When that action takes the -ing form, it becomes meeting, not meating.
The spelling meating sometimes appears online, but in ordinary modern writing it’s generally a spelling error when the intended word is meeting. A careful writer should therefore use meeting in business emails, school assignments, reports, messages, invitations, and other everyday communication.
Quick Answer:
Meeting is the correct standard word when you mean a gathering, encounter, appointment, or the -ing form of meet.
Meating isn’t normally used in modern standard English to mean a gathering. If you write, “We have a meating at 2 p.m.,” readers will generally understand that you intended meeting.
The easiest rule is:
Meet + ing = meeting
So:
- Correct: We have a meeting tomorrow.
- Correct: I am meeting Sarah tomorrow.
- Incorrect in standard everyday usage: We have a meating tomorrow.
- Incorrect in standard everyday usage: I am meating Sarah tomorrow.
One important distinction is worth remembering. Meting is a real English word, but it has a different meaning. The phrase “meting out” means distributing or administering something, especially punishment or justice.
| Word | Standard modern use | Main meaning |
| Meeting | Yes | A gathering, encounter, or -ing form of meet |
| Meating | Generally no for this meaning | Usually an accidental spelling of meeting |
| Meting | Yes | Giving or administering something, often punishment |
What Does Meeting Mean?
Meeting has several established meanings in English. Its most familiar meaning describes an occasion when two or more people come together for a particular purpose.
For example, a company might schedule a meeting to discuss a project. A teacher might attend a staff meeting. Friends might arrange a meeting to catch up after several months apart.
The word can also describe an encounter between people. In this sense, the meeting doesn’t have to be formal.
Consider these examples:
- “The marketing team has a meeting at 10 a.m.”
- “Our first meeting lasted nearly two hours.”
- “It was a chance meeting at the airport.”
- “Her meeting with the director went surprisingly well.”
- “The two groups arranged a meeting to discuss the problem.”
The meaning depends heavily on context.
A business meeting usually involves discussion, planning, decision-making, or collaboration. A first meeting, on the other hand, can simply refer to the first time two people encounter each other.
The word also appears in broader expressions involving things coming together. For example, someone might describe “the meeting of two rivers” to refer to the point where they join.
Meeting as the -Ing Form of Meet
One of the most important points in the meating vs meeting debate is grammar.
Meeting isn’t only a noun. It’s also the present participle and gerund form of the verb meet.
The basic formation is simple:
meet → meeting
Examples include:
- I meet my manager every Monday.
- I am meeting my manager today.
- They meet every week.
- They are meeting right now.
- We met yesterday.
- We will meet again tomorrow.
Notice what happens when -ing is added to meet. The spelling doesn’t become meating.
The word keeps the ee from meet:
meet + ing = meeting
This spelling follows the established English form of the verb. The same pattern appears in many ordinary sentences:
“I can’t talk right now because I’m meeting a client.”
Here, meeting functions as part of the verb phrase am meeting. It doesn’t refer to a scheduled gathering as a noun.
Compare that with:
“The client meeting starts at noon.”
In this sentence, meeting is a noun.
The spelling remains the same in both cases.
What Does Meating Mean?
When people search for “meating meaning,” they’re often expecting a definition comparable to meeting. In normal contemporary English, however, that’s not how the word works.
If someone writes:
“We have a meating at 3 p.m.”
the intended word is almost certainly meeting.
Likewise, if someone writes:
“I am meating my coworkers tomorrow.”
the standard form is:
“I am meeting my coworkers tomorrow.”
The spelling meating can occasionally appear in unusual, historical, specialized, or deliberately creative contexts. That fact shouldn’t confuse ordinary language use. A rare occurrence doesn’t make it a standard replacement for meeting.
This distinction matters because English contains many words that appear in historical dictionaries or specialized sources but aren’t appropriate substitutes in everyday modern writing.
For practical purposes, remember this:
If you mean people coming together, use “meeting.”
That’s the form readers expect in professional, academic, personal, and digital communication.
Meating vs Meeting: Side-by-Side Difference
The easiest way to understand meating vs meeting is to compare the words directly.
| Feature | Meeting | Meating |
| Standard spelling for a gathering | Yes | No |
| Related to the verb meet | Yes | No |
| Common in modern English | Yes | No |
| Can mean a gathering | Yes | No, not in ordinary standard usage |
| Can describe an encounter | Yes | No |
| Used as the -ing form of meet | Yes | No |
| Appropriate in business writing | Yes | No |
| Appropriate in academic writing | Yes | No |
| Commonly recognized by readers | Yes | Usually interpreted as a typo |
| Example | “The meeting starts at noon.” | “The meating starts at noon.” |
The difference looks tiny, but its practical effect is significant.
Think of meeting as the established road everyone recognizes. Meating may look similar on the map, but it doesn’t lead to the same standard destination.
Why Do People Write Meating Instead of Meeting?
The most obvious reason is spelling confusion.
The words meat and meet sound different in standard pronunciation, but their spellings are visually close. When you’re typing quickly, your brain may focus on the overall shape of the word rather than every individual letter.
That’s particularly easy to do with common words.
Someone may type:
“Let’s schedule a meating for Friday.”
The writer knows exactly what they mean. The problem happened during spelling, not communication of the intended idea.
Fast typing creates simple spelling errors
When you type quickly, your fingers can move faster than your proofreading. A single vowel can change without you noticing.
This happens frequently with familiar words because your brain tends to recognize whole words rather than inspect every letter individually.
Autocorrect can contribute
Spell-checking software doesn’t always catch every unusual form. A typo can occasionally survive if the software doesn’t flag it immediately.
That’s why proofreading still matters, particularly in formal writing.
The word “meat” creates visual confusion
The sequence meat is a familiar English spelling. Adding -ing produces the visually plausible-looking form meating.
However, the verb is meet, not meat.
Therefore:
meet + ing → meeting
not:
meat + ing → meating
Meeting vs Meating Pronunciation
Pronunciation offers another useful clue.
Meeting is commonly pronounced approximately as MEE-ting, represented in dictionary pronunciation systems as /ˈmiː.tɪŋ/.
The first syllable sounds like “meet.”
For example:
- meet → /miːt/
- meeting → /ˈmiː.tɪŋ/
That connection makes the spelling easier to remember.
When you hear:
“I’m meeting the team tomorrow.”
the first part of meeting comes directly from meet.
It’s therefore useful to connect the sound, spelling, and grammar:
meet → meeting
The pronunciation itself doesn’t create a standard alternative spelling called meating.
Common Uses of Meeting
The word meeting appears in countless everyday situations. Understanding these contexts helps you recognize why meating doesn’t fit.
Business meetings
Business environments use meeting constantly.
Common examples include:
- Team meeting
- Staff meeting
- Client meeting
- Board meeting
- Project meeting
- Sales meeting
- Planning meeting
- Strategy meeting
- Management meeting
For example:
“The project meeting begins at 9 a.m.”
Here, meeting refers to a planned gathering.
School and academic meetings
Schools and universities also use the word frequently.
Examples include:
- Faculty meeting
- Parent-teacher meeting
- Department meeting
- Student meeting
- Committee meeting
- Academic advising meeting
A sentence such as:
“The faculty meeting has been moved to Thursday.”
uses meeting as a noun.
Personal meetings
Not every meeting involves a conference table and a presentation.
You might say:
- “I had a meeting with an old friend.”
- “Our first meeting was completely unexpected.”
- “We arranged a meeting at the café.”
- “That chance meeting changed my plans.”
Here, the word can describe an encounter rather than a formal gathering.
Online meetings
Modern English also uses meeting for virtual gatherings.
Examples include:
- Zoom meeting
- Video meeting
- Virtual meeting
- Online team meeting
- Remote meeting
For example:
“I’ll join the online meeting from home.”
The medium doesn’t change the spelling. Whether people meet in a conference room or through a video platform, the standard word remains meeting.
Meeting as an Encounter
One subtle point often missed in discussions of meating vs meeting is that meeting doesn’t always mean a scheduled event.
Consider:
“It was a chance meeting.”
Nobody necessarily planned the encounter. The phrase describes an unexpected occasion when people happened to encounter one another.
Now compare:
“I have a meeting with my manager at 2 p.m.”
This describes a scheduled event.
The same word works in both situations because meeting has a broader meaning than simply “business appointment.”
Scheduled meeting
“The committee scheduled a meeting for Monday.”
Unexpected meeting
“We had a chance meeting downtown.”
First encounter
“Their first meeting happened at college.”
Meeting between groups
“The two organizations held a meeting to discuss the partnership.”
Context tells you which sense applies.
Common Meeting Collocations
English speakers regularly combine meeting with particular verbs. Learning these combinations can make your writing sound more natural.
| Expression | Example |
| have a meeting | We have a meeting at noon. |
| hold a meeting | The committee will hold a meeting tomorrow. |
| attend a meeting | She attended the meeting yesterday. |
| schedule a meeting | Let’s schedule a meeting for next week. |
| arrange a meeting | They arranged a meeting with the client. |
| call a meeting | The director called a meeting to discuss the issue. |
| join a meeting | Please join the meeting at 10. |
| chair a meeting | Maria will chair the meeting. |
| cancel a meeting | They canceled the meeting. |
| postpone a meeting | We postponed the meeting until Friday. |
These combinations show just how deeply established meeting is in everyday English.
Common Mistakes With Meating and Meeting
The most common error involves using meating where meeting belongs.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| We have a meating today. | We have a meeting today. |
| The team meating starts at noon. | The team meeting starts at noon. |
| Please join the meating. | Please join the meeting. |
| I am meating the client. | I am meeting the client. |
| The meating was productive. | The meeting was productive. |
| She scheduled a meating. | She scheduled a meeting. |
| Our weekly meating is tomorrow. | Our weekly meeting is tomorrow. |
| I missed the meating. | I missed the meeting. |
| The online meating starts soon. | The online meeting starts soon. |
| We need another meating. | We need another meeting. |
The correction isn’t complicated. Replace meating with meeting whenever you’re talking about meeting someone or holding a gathering.
Read More: Submission vs. Submittion: Learn the Real Difference?
Meeting vs Meting: A Different Spelling Trap
There’s another word worth separating from this discussion: meting.
Unlike meating, meting is a legitimate English word. However, it has a completely different meaning.
The phrase “mete out” means to administer or distribute something. The -ing form is meting out.
For example:
“The judge was meting out punishment.”
This doesn’t mean the judge was attending a meeting.
Compare these three forms:
| Word | Meaning | Example |
| Meeting | Gathering or encounter; -ing form of meet | “We’re meeting at noon.” |
| Meting | Administering or distributing something | “The court was meting out justice.” |
| Meating | Not the standard spelling for either meaning | “We have a meating” is normally a typo |
This distinction can save you from another common spelling mistake.
A useful memory trick is:
Meet → meeting
Mete → meting
The vowel pattern follows the base word.
Meeting vs Meet: How the Words Are Connected
The relationship between meet and meeting is straightforward.
Meet is the base verb.
Meeting is its -ing form.
Here are some examples:
- I meet my coworkers every Monday.
- I am meeting my coworkers today.
- She meets her clients regularly.
- She is meeting a new client tomorrow.
- We met them last year.
- We will meet them again soon.
The same word can also describe fulfilling an obligation or requirement.
For example:
- meet a deadline
- meet a requirement
- meet a standard
- meet expectations
- meet a need
The -ing form remains meeting:
“We’re working hard to meet the deadline.”
“She is meeting all the requirements.”
So meeting has a much broader grammatical role than simply describing a gathering.
FAQs:
Is “meating” a correct English word?
Not as the standard modern spelling for a gathering or the -ing form of meet. In those contexts, use meeting.
Is meeting the correct spelling?
Yes. Meeting is the standard spelling for a gathering, encounter, or the -ing form of meet.
Why do people spell meeting as meating?
The error usually comes from confusing meet with meat, typing quickly, or failing to notice a spelling mistake during proofreading.
How do you spell the -ing form of meet?
The correct form is meeting.
The formation is:
meet + ing = meeting
Is meating a typo?
If someone writes meating when referring to a gathering or meeting someone, it’s generally a typo.
Conclusion:
The meating vs meeting difference becomes simple once you connect the word to its base verb. Meeting is the standard and correct choice when you’re talking about a gathering, encounter, appointment, or the -ing form of meet. The spelling meating may appear as a typo, a rare specialized form, or deliberate wordplay. It isn’t the normal modern English word for a gathering.
