meat

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

English

Etymology

From Middle English mete, from Old English mete (“food”), from Proto-West Germanic *mati, from Proto-Germanic *matiz (“food”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“to drip, ooze; grease, fat”). Cognate with West Frisian mete, Old Saxon meti, Old High German maz (“food”), Icelandic matur, Swedish mat, Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐍄𐍃 (mats).

A -ja- derivation from the same base is found in Middle Dutch and Middle Low German met (“lean pork”), from which Dutch met (“minced pork”) and German Mett (“minced meat”) derive, respectively. Compare also Old Irish mess (“animal feed”) and Welsh mes (“acorns”), English mast (“fodder for swine and other animals”), which are probably from the same root.

Pronunciation

• enPR: mēt, IPA^(key): /miːt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /mit/
• Rhymes: -iːt
• Homophones: meet, mete

Noun

meat (countable and uncountable, plural meats)

1. (uncountable) The flesh (muscle tissue) of an animal used as food. [from 14th c.]
2. (countable) A type of meat, by anatomic position and provenance. [from 16th c.]

3. (now archaic, dialectal) Food, for animals or humans, especially solid food. See also meat and drink. [from 8th c.]
4. (now rare) A type of food, a dish. [from 9th c.]
5. (archaic) A meal. [from 9th c.]
6. (obsolete) Meal; flour.
7. (uncountable) Any relatively thick, solid part of a fruit, nut etc. [from 15th c.]
8. (slang, vulgar) A penis. [from 16th c.]
9. (colloquial) The best or most substantial part of something. [from 16th c.]
10. (sports) The sweet spot of a bat or club (in cricket, golf, baseball etc.). [from 20th c.]

11. (slang) A meathead.

12. (Australian Aboriginal) A totem, or (by metonymy) a clan or clansman which uses it.
    • 1993, J. Janson, Gunjies

      That’s a beautiful goanna. […]. He’s my meat, can’t eat him.

Usage notes

• The sense "flesh of an animal used as food" is often understood to exclude fish and other seafood. The exclusion of poultry from the category of meat has become outdated.

Synonyms

• (animal flesh used as food): flesh; See also Thesaurus:meat
• (penis): see Thesaurus:penis
• (best or most substantial part of something): crux, gist; See also Thesaurus:gist

Antonyms

• drink

Derived terms

Descendants

• Sranan Tongo: meti

Translations

Anagrams

• maté, META, team, mate, Tame, meta, ATEM, Meta, meta-, AEMT, Atem, -mate, tame, Team, Tema

Latin

Verb

meat

1. third-person singular present active indicative of meō

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French méat, from Latin meatus.

Noun

meat n (plural meaturi)

1. meatus

Declension