Meal

Pronunciation

• IPA: /miːl/
• Rhymes: -iːl

From Middle English, from Old English mǣl ("measure, time, occasion, set time, time for eating, meal"), from Proto-Germanic *mēlą, from Proto-Indo-European *mē-, *me- ("to measure"). Cognate with West Frisian miel, Dutch maal ("meal, time, occurrence"), German Mal ("time"), Mahl ("meal"), Swedish mål ("meal"); and (from Indo-European) with Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, "measure"), Latin mensus, Russian мера (mera, "measure"), Lithuanian mẽtas. Related to Old English mǣþ ("measure, degree, proportion").

Full definition of meal

Noun

1. (food that is prepared and eaten)Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time (e.g. breakfast = morning meal, lunch = noon meal, etc).
• 2013, Henry Petroski, Geothermal Energy, Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.
2. Food served or eaten as a repast.
• 2012, Anna Lena Phillips, Sneaky Silk Moths, Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

• make a meal of
• meal mob
• meal ticket

From Middle English mele, from Old English melu ("meal, flour"), from Proto-Germanic *melwą ("meal, flour"), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- ("to grind, mill"). Cognate with West Frisian moal, Dutch meel, German Mehl, Albanian miell, Proto-Slavic *melvo ("grain to be ground") (Bulgarian мливо), Dutch malen ("to grind"), German mahlen ("to grind"), Old Irish melim ("I grind"), Latin molō ("I grind"), Tocharian A/B malywët ("you press")/melye ("they tread on"), Lithuanian málti, Old Church Slavonic млѣти, Ancient Greek μύλη (mýlē, "mill"). More at mill.

Noun

1. The coarse-ground edible part of various grains often used to feed animals; flour.
• 2013, Henry Petroski, Geothermal Energy, Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.

Derived terms

• mealy
• cornmeal
• oatmeal

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

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

Verb

1. (transitive) To defile or taint.Were he meal'd with that
   Which he corrects, than were he tyrannous. ― Shakespeare.

Anagrams

• amel, Elam, Elma, lame, lamé, leam, lema, male, Malé