FromMiddle Englishmel, fromOld Englishmǣl(“measure, time, occasion, set time, time for eating, meal”), fromProto-West Germanic*māl, fromProto-Germanic*mēlą, fromProto-Indo-European*meh₁-(“to measure”).
Cognate withWest Frisianmiel,Dutchmaal(“meal, time, occurrence”),GermanMal(“time”),Mahl(“meal”),Norwegian Bokmålmål(“meal”),Swedishmål(“meal”); and (from Proto-Indo-European) withAncient Greekμέτρον(métron,“measure”),Latinmensus,Russianме́ра(méra,“measure”),Lithuanianmẽtas. Related toOld Englishmǣþ(“measure, degree, proportion”).
meal (countable anduncountable,pluralmeals)
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- (countable)Food that is prepared andeaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity (as opposed to asnack).
Breakfast is the morningmeal, lunch is the noonmeal, and dinner, or supper, is the eveningmeal.
- c1450, Secreta Secretorumː
- He that will castmeal uponmeal 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) merrymeal.
- 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 firstmeal.
- 1569, Fenton,Wondersː
- Besides he was so fantastical and unruly in his appetites, that he used no common meats at hismeals, but was fed with the combs of cocks, the tongues of peahens.
c.1606 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act III, scene ii],page140, column 2:Ere we will eate ourMeale in feare, and ſleepe / In the affliction of theſe terrible Dreames, / That ſhake vs Nightly:[…]
1606 February 25,Tho[mas] Bodley, “149”, in G[eorge] W[ilson] Wheeler, editor,Letters of Sir Thomas Bodley to Thomas James, First Keeper of the Bodleian Library […], Oxford, Oxon: At theClarendon Press, published1926,page155:SIR, I was thrice at Lamhith, to haue dined with the Archeb. sins your departure, and still he was to dine, at the Court or with some Bishop. But I must and will finde him assoone as I may: and rather at ameale, then otherwise, because I would haue meanes, to participat at large, about our Collation:[…]
- 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 manymeals, 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 lastmeal 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 heartymeal of the dead bird, and then went to sleep with much apparent satisfaction.
1838, Boz [pseudonym;Charles Dickens], “Wherein Oliver Is Delivered over to Mr. William Sikes”, inOliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. […], volume II, London:Richard Bentley, […],→OCLC,pages15–16:Indeed, the worthy gentleman, stimulated perhaps by the immediate prospect of being in active service, was in great spirits and good-humour; in proof whereof it may be here remarked that he humorously drank all the beer at a draught, and did not utter, on a rough calculation, more than four-score oaths during the whole progress of themeal.
1981 February,Stephen King, “The Oracle and the Mountains”, inEdward L[ewis] Ferman, editor,The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, volume60, number2 (whole 329), Cornwall, Conn.:Mercury Press, Inc.,→ISSN,page21, column 2:After themeal, he rinsed the cans they had eaten from (marveling again at his own water extravagance), and when he turned around, Jake was asleep again.
2013 July-August,Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, inAmerican Scientist, volume101, number 4:Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy ameal 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.
- 2016, Melissa Clark,Consider This Permission to Eat Burrata for Dinner inThe New York Timesː
- In this recipe, I go even further, adding a robust salad to turn a lone cheese into a satisfying summermeal.
- (countable) Food served or eaten as arepast.
- a1450, The Macro Playsː
- If thou wilt fare well at meat andmeal, come and follow me.
1855 July 4,Walt Whitman, “[Song of Myself]”, inLeaves of Grass, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.:[James and Andrew Rome],→OCLC,page25:This is themeal pleasantly set . . . . this is the meat and drink for natural hunger, / It is for the wicked just the same as the righteous . . . .
2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, inAmerican Scientist, volume100, number 2, page172: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 goodmeals for birds and small mammals.
- (uncountable, informal) Abreak taken by apolice officer in order toeat.
1994,Brooklyn Barrister, volume46, page13:They [tape recorders] can be turned off while officers are onmeal or in the car to protect their private conversations[…]
2019, R. J. Noonan,In the Line of Fire:“I was onmeal when I heard the call on the radio and recognized the address. What the hell?”
- (obsolete) Atime or anoccasion.
- 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 everymele;
But for my sone wepe ye never a dele.- You would weep at everymeal, 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 everymele groche with the kinge […]
- […] by occasion whereof they will, then at everymeal, grouch with the king […]
- a1450, Henry Lovelich,The History of the Holy Grailː
- Which was to them a sorrymeal.
- a1450, Henry Lovelich,Merlinː
- Also soon as the dragons together feal, betwixt them shall begin a sorrymeal.
- a1450, The York Playsː
- What mean ye.. to make mourning at ilk ameal?
- 1481, William Caxton,Reynard the Foxː
- I shall do late you have so much that ten of you should not eat it at onemeal.
- a1500, Alexander-Cassamus Fragmentː
- Of all the day throughout, keep I no bettermeal than on her to think.
- c1500, In A Chyrchː
- Thou couth well weep at everymeal.
- In the fourth sense,meal is afossil 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 meantat a time,at once,at one time orin one go; see alsoGermanauf 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 aspiecemeal(“one piece at a time”),footmeal(“one foot at a time”),heapmeal(“in large numbers”) etc.
food that is prepared and eaten
- Abkhaz:афатә(afatʷʼ)
- Afrikaans:maaltyd
- Albanian:vakt (sq) m
- Amharic:please add this translation if you can
- Arabic:وَجْبَة (ar) f(wajba),أكلة f(ʔakla)
- Aragonese:virolla f
- Armenian:կերակուր (hy)(kerakur),ճաշ (hy)(čaš)
- Aromanian:ngustáre f
- Assamese:সাঁজ(xãz)
- Asturian:comida (ast) f
- Avar:кванай(kʷanaj)
- Aymara:ququ
- Azerbaijani:yemək (az),xörək (az)
- Bashkir:please add this translation if you can
- Basque:otordu (eu)
- Belarusian:е́жа f(jéža)
- Bengali:হাজরি (bn)(hajri)
- Breton:pred (br) m
- Bulgarian:я́дене (bg) n(jádene)
- Burmese:please add this translation if you can
- Catalan:àpat (ca) m
- Central Atlas Tamazight:ⵜⵉⵔⵎⵜ f(tirmt)
- Chamicuro:nuka'c̈homachi
- Chechen:даар(daar),яахӏума(jaahuma)
- Cherokee:ᎠᎵᏍᏓᏴᏗ(alisdayvdi)
- Chichewa:please add this translation if you can
- Chinese:
- Mandarin:餐 (zh)(cān),飯 /饭 (zh)(fàn)
- Corsican:pastu m,ripastu m
- Crimean Tatar:aş
- Czech:jídlo (cs) n
- Danish:måltid (da) n
- Dhivehi:please add this translation if you can
- Dutch:maaltijd (nl) m
- Esperanto:manĝaĵo (eo),manĝo
- Estonian:söök
- Ewe:please add this translation if you can
- Extremaduran:please add this translation if you can
- Faroese:máltíð f
- Finnish:ateria (fi)
- French:repas (fr) m
- Friulian:please add this translation if you can
- Galician:comida (gl) f
- Georgian:საჭმელი (ka)(sač̣meli),ჭამა(č̣ama)
- German:Mahlzeit (de) f,Essen (de) n
- Alemannic German:Mohl
- Greek:γεύμα (el) n(gévma),φαγητό (el) n(fagitó)
- Ancient:σιτίον n(sitíon),σίτησις f(sítēsis),δόρπον n(dórpon)(later)
- Gujarati:please add this translation if you can
- Haitian Creole:repa,manje
- Hausa:please add this translation if you can
- Hawaiian:ʻaina,pāʻina
- Hebrew:אֲרוּחָה (he) f(arukhá)
- Hindi:भोजन (hi) m(bhojan),जेमन (hi) m(jeman)
- Hungarian:étkezés (hu)
- Icelandic:máltíð (is) f
- Ido:repasto (io)
- Igbo:please add this translation if you can
- Indonesian:makanan (id)
- Ingrian:adria
- Interlingua:repasto
- Irish:proinn f,béile (ga) m,séire m
- Italian:pasto (it) m
- Japanese:食事 (ja)(しょくじ, shokuji),めし (ja)(meshi)(informal),御飯 (ja)(ごはん, gohan),ご飯 (ja)(ごはん, gohan)
- Kazakh:тамақ (kk)(tamaq),ас(as)
- Khmer:អាហារ (km)(ʼaahaa)
- Korean:끼니(kkini),밥 (ko)(bap),식사(食事) (ko)(siksa),진지 (ko)(jinji)(honorific)
- Kyrgyz:тамак (ky)(tamak)
- Latin:cibus (la) m
- Latvian:ēdiens (lv) m
- Lithuanian:valgis (lt) m
- Macedonian:оброк (mk) m(obrok),јадење n(jadenje)
- Malay:makanan (ms)
- Malayalam:please add this translation if you can
- Maltese:ikel pl
- Manchu:ᠪᡠᡩ᠋ᠠ(buda)
- Manx:lhongey m
- Maori:kamenga
- Marathi:भोजन ?(bhojan),जेवण n(jevaṇ)
- Mòcheno:mol n
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic:хоол (mn)(xool),будаа (mn)(budaa)(esp China)
- Mongolian:ᠬᠣᠭᠤᠯᠠ(qoɣula),ᠪᠤᠳᠠᠭᠠ(budag-a)
- Nahuatl:tlemolli,tlacualizpan
- Nepali:भोजन (ne)(bhojan),खाना(khānā)
- Ngazidja Comorian:shahula class7
- Norman:r'pas m(Jersey, Guernsey)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål:måltid (no) n,mål (no) n
- Nynorsk:måltid n
- Occitan:(pleaseverify)repais (oc) m
- Odia:please add this translation if you can
- Old English:mǣl n
- Old Norse:mál n
- Ossetian:хӕрд(xærd)
- Ottoman Turkish:مانجه(manca)
- Pashto:please add this translation if you can
- Persian:غذا (fa)(ğazâ)
- Polish:posiłek (pl) m,danie (pl) n,jedzenie (pl) n
- Portuguese:refeição (pt) f
- Punjabi:please add this translation if you can
- Romanian:masă (ro) f
- Romansch:past m,tschavera f(Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran)
- Russian:еда́ (ru) f(jedá),пи́ща (ru) f(píšča),снедь (ru) f(snedʹ)(obsolete),угоще́нье (ru) f(ugoščénʹje)
- Sanskrit:भोजन (sa) n(bhojana)
- Scots:please add this translation if you can
- Scottish Gaelic:biadh m
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic:о̀брок m,је̏ло n
- Roman:òbrok (sh) m,jȅlo (sh) n
- Sicilian:manciari (scn) m
- Slovak:jedlo (sk) n
- Slovene:obrok (sl) m,obed m
- Somali:please add this translation if you can
- Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian:jěza f
- Upper Sorbian:jědź f
- Spanish:comida (es) f,pitanza (es) f(old-fashioned),condumio (es) m(colloquial),vianda (es) f
- Swedish:måltid (sv) c,mål (sv) n
- Tajik:ғизо (tg)(ġizo)
- Tamil:please add this translation if you can
- Tarifit:mašša m
- Thai:อาหาร (th)(aa-hǎan),มื้อ (th)(mʉ́ʉ)
- Tibetan:ལྟོ(lto)
- Tocharian B:yesti ?
- Turkish:yemek (tr),(obsolete)aş (tr),öğün (tr)
- Turkmen:nahar
- Tuvan:чем(çem)
- Ukrainian:ї́жа (uk) f(jíža),стра́ва f(stráva)
- Urdu:please add this translation if you can
- Uyghur:تاماق (ug)(tamaq)
- Uzbek:ovqat (uz),taom (uz),tomoq (uz)
- Vietnamese:bữa (vi),bữa cơm (vi)
- Volapük:fidäd (vo)
- Walloon:please add this translation if you can
- Welsh:pryd (cy) m,pryd o fwyd m
- White Hmong:pluas mov
- Wolof:please add this translation if you can
- Xhosa:please add this translation if you can
- Yiddish:מאָלצײַט m(moltsayt)
- Yucatec Maya:haanal
- Zulu:please add this translation if you can
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The Middle English Dictionary
FromMiddle Englishmele, fromOld Englishmelu(“meal, flour”), fromProto-West Germanic*melu, fromProto-Germanic*melwą(“meal, flour”), fromProto-Indo-European*melh₂-(“to grind, mill”).
Cognates
Cognate withWest Frisianmoal,Dutchmeel,GermanMehl,Albanianmiell,Proto-Slavic*melvo(“grain to be ground”) (Bulgarianмливо(mlivo)),Dutchmalen(“to grind”),Germanmahlen(“to grind”),Old Irishmelim(“I grind”),Latinmolō(“I grind”), Tocharian A/Bmalywët(“you press”)/melye(“they tread on”),Lithuanianmálti,Old Church Slavonicмлѣти(mlěti),Ancient Greekμύλη(múlē,“mill”). More atmill.
meal (countable anduncountable,pluralmeals)
- Theground-up edible part of variousgrains, used as a basis offood orfeed; eitherflour or acoarser 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)
2013 July-August,Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, inAmerican Scientist, volume101, number 4: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 intomeal.
- Any of various similarlygranular materials prepared from other sources, such asbones orwood.
- Hyponyms:bloodmeal,bonemeal,fishmeal,woodmeal
- Any of various othergranular orpowdery materials, eitherground by humans or occurring in nature, named figuratively after a resemblance to grain meal.
- Hyponyms:mountain meal,witch-meal
coarse-ground edible part of various grains
meal (third-person singular simple presentmeals,present participlemealing,simple past and past participlemealed)
- (intransitive, obsolete) To yield or be plentiful in meal.
1876,Notes and Queries, page73:Of course the yield of grain was small, but much greater than could have been expected; and, the ears being well filled, itmealed well. The pastures were burnt up, so that there was nothing left for the cattle to eat.
Variation ofmole (compareScotsmail), fromMiddle Englishmole,mool, fromOld Englishmāl,mǣl(“spot, mark, blemish”), fromProto-Germanic*mailą(“wrinkle, spot”), fromProto-Indo-European*mey-(“to soil”). More atmole.
meal (pluralmeals)
- (UK dialectal) Aspeck orspot.
- A part; a fragment; a portion.
meal (third-person singular simple presentmeals,present participlemealing,simple past and past participlemealed)
- (transitive) Todefile ortaint.
c.1603–1604 (date written),William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act IV, scene ii]:Were hemeal'd with that / Which he corrects, than were he tyrannous.
- Elma,mela,mela-,amel,alme,Lema,male-,Male,male,leam,lame,lamé,Leam,Elam,Malé,lema
FromAlbanianmal,[1] cognate toAromanianmal andRomanianmal with the same origin.
meal n (pluralmealuri)
- steep,scarped shore region
- (figurative)boondocks
meal (present analyticmealann,future analyticmealfaidh,verbal nounmealadh,past participlemealta)
- Alternative form ofmeil(“to grind”)
verbal noun | mealadh |
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past participle | mealta |
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tense | singular | plural | relative | autonomous |
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first | second | third | first | second | third |
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indicative |
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present | mealaim | mealann tú; mealair† | mealann sé, sí | mealaimid | mealann sibh | mealann siad; mealaid† | amhealann; amhealas / amealann* | mealtar |
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past | mheal mé;mhealas | mheal tú;mhealais | mheal sé, sí | mhealamar;mheal muid | mheal sibh;mhealabhair | mheal siad;mhealadar | amheal / armheal* | mealadh |
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past habitual | mhealainn /mealainn‡‡ | mhealtá /mealtᇇ | mhealadh sé, sí /mealadh sé, s퇇 | mhealaimis;mhealadh muid /mealaimis‡‡;mealadh muid‡‡ | mhealadh sibh /mealadh sibh‡‡ | mhealaidís;mhealadh siad /mealaidís‡‡;mealadh siad‡‡ | amhealadh / amealadh* | mhealtaí /mealta퇇 |
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future | mealfaidh mé; mealfad | mealfaidh tú; mealfair† | mealfaidh sé, sí | mealfaimid; mealfaidh muid | mealfaidh sibh | mealfaidh siad; mealfaid† | amhealfaidh; amhealfas / amealfaidh* | mealfar |
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conditional | mhealfainn /mealfainn‡‡ | mhealfá /mealfᇇ | mhealfadh sé, sí /mealfadh sé, s퇇 | mhealfaimis;mhealfadh muid /mealfaimis‡‡;mealfadh muid‡‡ | mhealfadh sibh /mealfadh sibh‡‡ | mhealfaidís;mhealfadh siad /mealfaidís‡‡;mealfadh siad‡‡ | amhealfadh / amealfadh* | mhealfaí /mealfa퇇 |
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subjunctive |
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present | gomeala mé; gomealad† | gomeala tú; gomealair† | gomeala sé, sí | gomealaimid; gomeala muid | gomeala sibh | gomeala siad; gomealaid† | — | gomealtar |
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past | dámealainn | dámealtá | dámealadh sé, sí | dámealaimis; dámealadh muid | dámealadh sibh | dámealaidís; dámealadh siad | — | dámealtaí |
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imperative |
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– | mealaim | meal | mealadh sé, sí | mealaimis | mealaigí; mealaidh† | mealaidís | — | mealtar |
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* indirect relative
† archaic or dialect form
‡‡ dependent form used with particles that triggereclipsis
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
meal ?
- meaning
meal m
- (Sutsilvan)Alternative form ofmel(“honey”)
FromMiddle Irishmelaid(“to consume”), fromOld Irishmelaid(“to grind”), fromProto-Celtic*meleti(“to grind”), fromProto-Indo-European*melh₂-.Doublet ofmeil.
meal (pastmheal,futuremealaidh,verbal nounmealadhormealtainn,past participlemealte)
- enjoy