Concentrate and meet are only loosely related and rarely interchangeable. Concentrate is to draw scattered things to one central point, to make something denser, or to focus. Meet is to come together with someone or something, or to satisfy a requirement. Concentrate masses many things at a centre; meet only brings things into contact at a point.
Both involve a point, but one masses many things there and the other just brings two into contact. Concentrate, from centrum 'centre', gathers scattered things to a central point, packs a substance denser, or focuses the mind. Meet, an old everyday word, means to come into contact at the same point — two roads, two people — or to satisfy a need or standard. Forces are concentrated at a point; two roads meet at a junction. One masses many to a centre; the other brings two into contact.
concentrate
To concentrate is to gather toward one centre until it is strong — from the Latin com- 'together' and centrum 'centre'. Scattered forces concentrate at a border; a reader concentrates on a page, pulling stray attention to one point; boiling concentrates a juice by driving off its water. As a noun, a concentrate is what is left when the water is gone: the same substance, no longer spread thin. To consolidate holdings is close, but concentrate keeps the sense of intensity growing as things gather.
meet
To meet is for separate things to come together at one place or moment — two roads meet, old friends meet, a river meets the sea. From the Old English mētan, it has always carried this coming-together, but its real academic value is abstract: to meet a deadline, a target, or a demand is to be enough for it, to rise to what is asked. Where independent paths converge on the same point, they meet — and from that point they may go on together.
| concentrate | meet | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | gather to one point; make denser | come into contact; satisfy a requirement |
| At the point | many things massed and intensified | things come into contact |
| Register | neutral, everyday to technical | plain, everyday |
| Often with | attention, power, forces, a solution | people, roads, a deadline, a need |
| Noun | concentration | a meeting |
| Example | Concentrate the forces. | The roads meet here. |
Ask whether many gather to a point, or two simply make contact. Concentrate masses scattered things at a centre and intensifies them — light pulled to a burning dot. Meet just brings things into contact at a point — two travellers at a junction. If many things gather to a point and pack tight, that is concentrate; if things come together at a point, that is meet.
concentrate
- iThe general concentrated his forces at the pass.
- iiThe lens concentrates the light onto one spot.
- iiiTry to concentrate on one task at a time.
meet
- iLet's meet at the station at noon.
- iiThe two rivers meet just below the town.
- iiiThe design meets all the safety requirements.
These are not true synonyms. Concentrate masses many things to a centre and intensifies them; meet merely brings things into contact at a point, or satisfies a standard. They touch only in the idea of 'a point', but concentrate performs a gathering while meet notes a contact. And meet has a whole sense — to satisfy a requirement — that concentrate never shares.