meal

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See also: -meal

English

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Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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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

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meal (countable and uncountable, plural meals)

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  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).
    Breakfast is the morning meal, lunch is the noon meal, and dinner, or supper, is the evening 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.
    • 1855 July 4, Walt Whitman, “[Song of Myself]”, in Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.: [James and Andrew Rome], →OCLC, page 25:
      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 . . . .
    • 2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 172:
      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.
  4. (uncountable, informal) A break taken by a police officer in order to eat.
    • 1994, Brooklyn Barrister, volume 46, page 13:
      They [tape recorders] can be turned off while officers are on meal or in the car to protect their private conversations […]
    • 2019, R. J. Noonan, In the Line of Fire:
      “I was on meal when I heard the call on the radio and recognized the address. What the hell?”
  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
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  • 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
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Derived terms
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Translations
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References
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The Middle English Dictionary

Etymology 2

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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 (“I 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.

Noun

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meal (countable and uncountable, plural meals)

  2. The coarse-ground edible part of various grains often used to feed animals; flour or a coarser blend than flour.
    Coordinate term: flour
    • 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, 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 into meal.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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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.
    • 1876, Notes and Queries, page 73:
      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.

Etymology 3

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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

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meal (plural meals)

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

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To defile or taint.

Anagrams

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Aromanian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Albanian mal,[1] cognate to Aromanian mal and Romanian mal with the same origin.

Noun

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meal n (plural mealuri)

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

References

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  1. ^ Namenforschung / Name Studies / Les noms propres. 1. Halbband. 104. Illyrian-Albanian Toponyms, S. 718.

Irish

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Verb

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

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

Conjugation

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conjugation of meal (first conjugation – A)
singular plural relative autonomous
first second third first second third
indicative present mealaim mealann tú;
mealair† 		mealann sé, sí mealaimid mealann sibh mealann siad;
mealaid† 		a mhealann; a mhealas /
a mealann* 		mealtar
past mheal mé; mhealas mheal tú; mhealais mheal sé, sí mhealamar; mheal muid mheal sibh; mhealabhair mheal siad; mhealadar a mheal /
ar mheal* 		mealadh
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‡‡ a mhealadh /
a mealadh* 		mhealtaí / mealta퇇
future mealfaidh mé;
mealfad 		mealfaidh tú;
mealfair† 		mealfaidh sé, sí mealfaimid;
mealfaidh muid 		mealfaidh sibh mealfaidh siad;
mealfaid† 		a mhealfaidh; a mhealfas /
a mealfaidh* 		mealfar
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‡‡ a mhealfadh /
a mealfadh* 		mhealfaí / mealfa퇇
subjunctive present go meala mé;
go mealad† 		go meala tú;
go mealair† 		go meala sé, sí go mealaimid;
go meala muid 		go meala sibh go meala siad;
go mealaid† 		— go mealtar
past dá mealainn dá mealtá dá mealadh sé, sí dá mealaimis;
dá mealadh muid 		dá mealadh sibh dá mealaidís;
dá mealadh siad 		— dá mealtaí
imperative mealaim meal mealadh sé, sí mealaimis mealaigí;
mealaidh† 		mealaidís — mealtar
verbal noun mealadh
past participle mealta

* indirect relative
† archaic or dialect form
‡‡ dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis

Mutation

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Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
meal mheal not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Northern Kurdish

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Noun

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meal ?

  1. meaning

Romansch

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Noun

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meal m

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

Scottish Gaelic

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Etymology

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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

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Verb

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

  1. enjoy

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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