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meal

noun
/ˈmiːl/

Etymology

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

  1. derived from *meh₁-✻ — “to measure”
  2. inherited from *mēlą✻
  3. inherited from *māl✻
  4. inherited from mǣl — “measure, time, occasion, set time, time for eating, meal”
  5. inherited from mel

Definitions

  1. Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a…

    Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity.

    • Breakfast is the morning meal, lunch is the noon meal, and dinner, or supper, is the evening meal.
    • 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.

  2. Food served or eaten as a repast.

    • a1450, The Macro Playsː If thou wilt fare well at meat and meal, come and follow me.
    • This is the meal pleasantly set . . . . this is the meat and drink for natural hunger, / It is for the wicked just the same as the righteous . . . .
    • 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.

  3. A break taken by a police officer in order to eat.

    • They [tape recorders] can be turned off while officers are on meal or in the car to protect their private conversations […]
    • “I was on meal when I heard the call on the radio and recognized the address. What the hell?”
  4. ›+ 8 more definitions

    1. A time or an occasion.

      • 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.
      • […] 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.

    2. The ground-up edible part of various grains, used as a basis of food or feed

      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).

    3. Any of various similarly granular materials prepared from other sources, such as bones or…

      Any of various similarly granular materials prepared from other sources, such as bones or wood.

    4. Any of various other granular or powdery materials, either ground by humans or occurring…

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

    5. To yield or be plentiful in meal.

      • Of course the yield of grain was small, but much greater than could have been expected; and, the ears being well filled, it mealed well. The pastures were burnt up, so that there was nothing left for the cattle to eat.

    6. A speck or spot.

    7. A part

      A part; a fragment; a portion.

    8. To defile or taint.

      • Were he meal'd with that / Which he corrects, than were he tyrannous.

The neighborhood

Derived

barium meal, box meal, cat in the meal-tub, cheat meal, daymeal, enjoy your meal, family meal, full-course meal, guestmeal, happy meal, Indian meal moth, intermeal, intrameal, last meal, main meal, make a meal of, make a meal out of, malt-o-meal, -meal, meal deal, mealer, meal marker, meal prep, mealprep, meal station, Meal Team Six, meal ticket, mealtide, mealtime, meal voucher, mealware, microwave meal, midmeal, miss-meal colic, night meal, nonmeal, packed meal, plate meal, postmeal, premeal · +49 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at meal. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01meal02repast03drink04alcoholic05alcohol06functional07serving

A definitional loop anchored at meal. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at meal

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA