New experimental results were obtained for the oxidation of metaxylene studied in a jet-stirred reactor at atmospheric pressure in dilute conditions over the temperature range 900- 1400 K, and variable equivalence ratio (0.5 <= phi <= 1.5). They consisted of concentration profiles of the reactants, stable intermediates and final products, measured by sonic probe sampling followed by on-line GC-MS analyses and off-line GC-TCD-FID and GC-MS analyses. The oxidation of meta-xylene in these conditions was modeled using a detailed chemical kinetic reaction mechanism (189 species and 1359 reactions, most of them reversible) deriving from a previous scheme proposed for the ignition, oxidation, and combustion of simple aromatics (benzene, toluene, styrene, n-propyl-benzene, and para-xylene). Sensitivity analyses and reaction path analyses, based on rates of reaction, were used to interpret the results. This study showed the reactivity of m-xylene is quite similar to that of p-xylene under the present conditions: m-xylene reacts slightly slower than p-xylene.