meal

English Online Dictionary. What means meal‎? What does meal mean?

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /miːl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /mil/, [miəɫ]
• Rhymes: -iːl

Etymology 1

From Middle English mel, from Old English mǣl (“measure, time, occasion, set time, time for eating, meal”), from Proto-West Germanic *māl, from Proto-Germanic *mēlą, from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- (“to measure”).

Cognate with West Frisian miel, Dutch maal (“meal, time, occurrence”), German Mal (“time”), Mahl (“meal”), Norwegian Bokmål mål (“meal”), Swedish mål (“meal”); and (from Proto-Indo-European) with Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure”), Latin mensus, Russian ме́ра (méra, “measure”), Lithuanian mẽtas. Related to Old English mǣþ (“measure, degree, proportion”).

Noun

meal (countable and uncountable, plural meals)

2. (countable) Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity (as opposed to a snack).
   • c1450, Secreta Secretorumː

     He that will cast meal upon meal is not able to have (a) long life.

   • c1500, The King and the Hermitː

     I have been there and taken deal / And have had many (a) merry meal.

   • 1535?, Dyfference Astronː

     But above all things beware that thou eat not till thou feel thy stomach empty and that it hath made good digestion of the first meal.

   • 1569, Fenton, Wondersː

     Besides he was so fantastical and unruly in his appetites, that he used no common meats at his meals, but was fed with the combs of cocks, the tongues of peahens.

   • 1640, Richard Brathwait, Ar't asleep Husband? A BOULSTER LECTURE, Stored with all variety of witty Jests, merry Tales, and other pleasant passages; extracted from the choycest Flowers of Phi∣losophy, Poesy, ancient and moderne Historyː

     Give me but so many meals, and thou shalt find me one of the strongest Turkish males that ever English gennet bore.

   • 1796, Robert Bage, Hermsprong: or, Man As He Is Notː

     This letter was written whilst my hostess of the George was preparing the last meal I ever was to eat.

   • 1835, Edgar Allan Poe, The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaallː

     Puss, who seemed in a great measure recovered from her illness, now made a hearty meal of the dead bird, and then went to sleep with much apparent satisfaction.

   • 2016, Melissa Clark, Consider This Permission to Eat Burrata for Dinner in The New York Timesː

     In this recipe, I go even further, adding a robust salad to turn a lone cheese into a satisfying summer meal.

3. (countable) Food served or eaten as a repast.
   • a1450, The Macro Playsː

     If thou wilt fare well at meat and meal, come and follow me.
4. (uncountable, informal) A break taken by a police officer in order to eat.
5. (obsolete) A time or an occasion.
   • The Lamentation of the Virgin Mary (MS. Cantab., Ff. ii., 38, fol. 47.), in: 1847, Thomas Wright (editor), The Chester Plays: A Collection of Mysteries founded upon scriptural Subjects, and formerly represented by the Trades of Chester at Whitsuntide, vol. II, p. 208f.:

     Ye wolde wepe at every mele;
     But for my sone wepe ye never a dele.

     You would weep at every meal, but for my son you never weep a deal.

   • a1400?-a1470?, in: 1999/2006, The Governance of England: Otherwise called The Difference between an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy. By Sir John Fortescue. A Revised Text edited with Introduction, Notes, and Appendices by Charles Plummer, p. 132:

     […] by occasion whereoff thai woll than at every mele groche with the kinge […]

     […] by occasion whereof they will, then at every meal, grouch with the king […]

   • a1450, Henry Lovelich, The History of the Holy Grailː

     Which was to them a sorry meal.

   • a1450, Henry Lovelich, Merlinː

     Also soon as the dragons together feal, betwixt them shall begin a sorry meal.

   • a1450, The York Playsː

     What mean ye.. to make mourning at ilk a meal?

   • 1481, William Caxton, Reynard the Foxː

     I shall do late you have so much that ten of you should not eat it at one meal.

   • a1500, Alexander-Cassamus Fragmentː

     Of all the day throughout, keep I no better meal than on her to think.

   • c1500, In A Chyrchː

     Thou couth well weep at every meal.

Usage notes

• In the fourth sense, meal is a fossil word and is usually found in the archaic/obsolete phrase "at every (ilk a) meal" meaning "on every occasion", compare also "at ilk a tide". It fell out of common usage in the late 15th century. Also, "at one meal" sometimes meant at a time, at once, at one time or in one go; see also German auf einmal (literally “upon one meal”). "To keep (the) meal" probably used to mean "to use/spend one's time". A "sorry meal" used to mean a "grim occasion" such as a fight, setback, mishap or some sort of other misfortune.

• Meal, in the sense of "time" or "occasion", also survives in other set phrases, such as piecemeal (“one piece at a time”), footmeal (“one foot at a time”), heapmeal (“in large numbers”) etc.

Hyponyms

• See also Thesaurus:meal

Derived terms

Translations

References

The Middle English Dictionary

Etymology 2

From Middle English mele, from Old English melu (“meal, flour”), from Proto-West Germanic *melu, from Proto-Germanic *melwą (“meal, flour”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to grind, mill”).

Noun

meal (countable and uncountable, plural meals)

2. The ground-up edible part of various grains, used as a basis of food or feed; either flour or a coarser blend than flour (usage varies).

   Hyponyms: barleymeal, beremeal, cornmeal, oatmeal, maizemeal, ricemeal, wheatmeal; peameal, peasemeal, beanmeal; cottonseed meal; wholemeal; bread meal, cracker meal; (sometimes construed as coordinate) cornflour, pea flour, rice flour, rye flour, wheat flour

   Coordinate term: flour (precisely coordinate; broadly synonymous)
3. Any of various similarly granular materials prepared from other sources, such as bones or wood.

   Hyponyms: bloodmeal, bonemeal, fishmeal, woodmeal

4. Any of various other granular or powdery materials, either ground by humans or occurring in nature, named figuratively after a resemblance to grain meal.

   Hyponyms: mountain meal, witch-meal

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

meal (third-person singular simple present meals, present participle mealing, simple past and past participle mealed)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To yield or be plentiful in meal.

Etymology 3

Variation of mole (compare Scots mail), from Middle English mole, mool, from Old English māl, mǣl (“spot, mark, blemish”), from Proto-Germanic *mailą (“wrinkle, spot”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“to soil”). More at mole.

Noun

meal (plural meals)

1. (UK dialectal) A speck or spot.
2. A part; a fragment; a portion.

Verb

meal (third-person singular simple present meals, present participle mealing, simple past and past participle mealed)

1. (transitive) To defile or taint.

Anagrams

• Elma, mela, mela-, amel, alme, Lema, male-, Male, male, leam, lame, lamé, Leam, Elam, Malé, lema

Aromanian

Alternative forms

• mealu

Etymology

From Albanian mal, cognate to Aromanian mal and Romanian mal with the same origin.

Noun

meal n (plural mealuri)

1. steep, scarped shore region
2. (figurative) boondocks

References

Irish

Verb

meal (present analytic mealann, future analytic mealfaidh, verbal noun mealadh, past participle mealta)

1. Alternative form of meil (“to grind”)

Conjugation

Mutation

Northern Kurdish

Noun

meal ?

1. meaning

Romansch

Noun

meal m

1. (Sutsilvan) Alternative form of mel (“honey”)

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Middle Irish melaid (“to consume”), from Old Irish melaid (“to grind”), from Proto-Celtic *meleti (“to grind”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂-. Doublet of meil.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mjal̪ˠ/

Verb

meal (past mheal, future mealaidh, verbal noun mealadh or mealtainn, past participle mealte)

1. enjoy

Synonyms

• còrd ri
• gabh tlachd ann

Derived terms

• meal do naidheachd, meal ur naidheachd (“congratulations”)