The Meta key is a

modifier key In computing, a modifier key is a special key (or combination) on a computer keyboard that temporarily modifies the normal action of another key when pressed together. By themselves, modifier keys usually do nothing; that is, pressing any of the , ...

on certain keyboards. It first appeared on the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab (SAIL) keyboard in 1970.

History

The Meta key first appeared on the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab (SAIL) keyboard in 1970 and successors such as the

Knight keyboard The Knight keyboard, designed by Tom Knight, was used with the MIT-AI lab's bitmapped display system.

space-cadet keyboard The space-cadet keyboard is a keyboard designed by John L. Kulp in 1978 and used on Lisp machines at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which inspired several still-current jargon terms in the field of computer science and influenced th ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

Lisp machine Lisp machines are general-purpose computers designed to efficiently run Lisp as their main software and programming language, usually via hardware support. They are an example of a high-level language computer architecture, and in a sense, they ...

Symbolics keyboard Symbolics was a computer manufacturer Symbolics, Inc., and a privately held company that acquired the assets of the former company and continues to sell and maintain the Open Genera Lisp system and the Macsyma computer algebra system.

s, and on Sun Microsystems keyboards (where it is marked with a black diamond "◆").

Use

Generally, the Meta key worked similar to

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

Command key The Command key (sometimes abbreviated as Cmd key), , formerly also known as the Apple key or open Apple key, is a modifier key present on Apple keyboards. The Command key's purpose is to allow the user to enter keyboard commands in applicati ...

, in that when held down it modified letters and symbols into immediate commands (shortcuts). On these keyboards the

Control key In computing, a Control key is a modifier key which, when pressed in conjunction with another key, performs a special operation (for example, ); similar to the Shift key, the Control key rarely performs any function when pressed by itself. ...

was placed closest to the

space bar The space bar is on the bottom center of the keyboard The space bar, spacebar, blank, or space key is a key on a typewriter or alphanumeric keyboard in the form of a horizontal bar in the lowermost row, significantly wider than all other keys. ...

, then the Meta key outside Control. The space-cadet keyboard added the Super key outside Meta, and the

Hyper key The space-cadet keyboard is a keyboard designed by John L. Kulp in 1978 and used on Lisp machines at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which inspired several still-current jargon terms in the field of computer science and influenced t ...

outside that. All these keys produced shortcuts (2⁴ of them for every letter), but the Control ones were easiest to type and most popular, and the Meta ones second-easiest and thus second most popular. However, on most modern keyboards, the Control key is ''farthest'' from the space bar, reversing the convenience of shortcuts. On keyboards that lack a physical Meta key, its functionality may be invoked by other keys such as the Windows key or Macintosh's

Option key The Option key, , is a modifier key present on Apple keyboards. It is located between the Control key and Command key on a typical Mac keyboard. There are two Option keys on modern (as of 2020) Mac desktop and notebook keyboards, one on each sid ...

. However, software often provides another workaround, such as using the

Alt key The Alt key (pronounced or ) on a computer keyboard is used to change (alternate) the function of other pressed keys. Thus, the Alt key is a modifier key, used in a similar fashion to the Shift key. For example, simply pressing ''A'' will t ...

(which does not exist on the

Knight keyboard The Knight keyboard, designed by Tom Knight, was used with the MIT-AI lab's bitmapped display system.

), or using the

Esc key On computer keyboards, the Esc key (named ''Escape key'' in the international standard series ISO/IEC 9995) is a key used to generate the escape character (which can be represented as ASCII code 27 in decimal, Unicode U+001B, or ). The escape ...

as a prefix (e.g., in Emacs). Because of these workarounds, the need for Meta – despite being the most-used additional

– was less than for other modifier keys. It is more common today to use the Windows key to emulate the Super key.

Gallery

File:Space-cadet.jpg,

Space-cadet keyboard The space-cadet keyboard is a keyboard designed by John L. Kulp in 1978 and used on Lisp machines at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which inspired several still-current jargon terms in the field of computer science and influenced th ...

File:Symbolics-keyboard.jpg,

References

Computer keys {{compu-hardware-stub

History

Use

Gallery

See also

References