User:Kf4yfd/mv

In logic metavariable (also metalinguistic variable ) is a symbol or set of symbols in a metalanguage which stands for a symbol or set of symbols in some object language. For instance, in the sentence:


 * Let A and B be two arbitrary formulas of a formal language ℒ.

The symbols A and B are not symbols of the object language ℒ, they are metasyntactic variables in the metalanguage (in this case, English) which is talking about the object language ℒ.

Etymology

 * 'Meta' means providing information about, or transcending.
 * 'Variable' means something that can assume a value, or something likely to vary.

So we have a word that


 * transcends the common rules of a variable and can assume a value