meal

meal
\ \ [OE] Mealrepast’ and mealflour’ are two distinct words. The former originally meant ‘measure’: it goes back via prehistoric Germanic *mǣlaz (source of German maltime, occasion’ and mahlmeal’, Dutch maaltime, meal’, and Swedish målmeal’) to the Indo-European base *me- ‘measure’, which is also the ancestor of English measure. The semantic progression from ‘measure’ (which died out for meal in the Middle English period, but survives in the compound piecemeal [13], etymologically ‘measured piece by piece’) to ‘repast’ was via ‘measured or fixed time’ (hence the meaning ‘time, occasion’ in many of the related Germanic forms) and ‘time fixed for eating’. Mealflour’ (as in oatmeal) goes back ultimately to Indo-European *mel-, *mol-, *ml- ‘grind’, source of a wide range of other English words from mild and mill to molar and mould.
\ \ From it was descended West and North Germanic *melwam, which has differentiated to German mehl, Dutch meel, Swedish mjōl, Danish mel, and English meal. It has been speculated that mellow [15] may have originated in the use of Old English melumeal’ as an adjective, in the sense ‘soft and rich like flour’.
\ \ Cf.MEASURE, PIECEMEAL; MELLOW, MILD, MILL, MOLAR, MOULD

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • meal — W2S2 [mi:l] n [Sense: 1,3; Origin: Old English mAl time, meal ] [Sense: 2; Origin: Old English melu] 1.) an occasion when you eat food, for example breakfast or dinner, or the food that you eat on that occasion ▪ After the movie we went for a… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • meal — [ mil ] noun *** 1. ) count an occasion when you eat, especially breakfast, lunch, or DINNER: The medicine should always be taken with meals. go out for a meal (=go to a restaurant): We could go to a movie, or go out for a meal. main meal (=the… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • meal — UK US /miːl/ noun ► [C] an occasion when food is eaten, or the food which is eaten on such an occasion: go out/take sb out for a meal »He took the whole team out for a meal at the end of the project. have/eat a meal »I have my main meal at midday …   Financial and business terms

  • Meal — Meal, n. [OE. mel; akin to E. meal a part, and to D. maal time, meal, G. mal time, mahl meal, Icel. m[=a]l measure, time, meal, Goth. m[=e]l time, and to E. measure. See {Measure}.] The portion of food taken at a particular time for the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Meal — Meal, n. [OE. mele, AS. melu, melo; akin to D. meel, G. mehl, OHG. melo, Icel. mj[ o]l, SW. mj[ o]l, Dan. meel, also to D. malen to grind, G. mahlen, OHG., OS., & Goth. malan, Icel. mala, W. malu, L. molere, Gr. my lh mill, and E. mill. [root]108 …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • meal — meal·able; meal; meal·berry; meal·er; meal·ie; meal·i·ness; meal·less; meal·man; meal·ock; piece·meal; …   English syllables

  • meal|y — meal|y1 «MEE lee», adjective, meal|i|er, meal|i|est. 1. like meal; dry and powdery: »mealy potatoes. 2. of or containing meal: »the mealy treasures of the harvest bin …   Useful english dictionary

  • meal — Ⅰ. meal [1] ► NOUN 1) any of the regular daily occasions when food is eaten. 2) the food eaten on such an occasion. ● make a meal of Cf. ↑make a meal of ORIGIN Old English …   English terms dictionary

  • Meal — (m[=e]l), n. [OE. mele, AS. m[=ae]l part, portion, portion of time; akin to E. meal a repast. Cf. {Piecemeal}.] A part; a fragment; a portion. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Meal — Meal, v. t. 1. To sprinkle with, or as with, meal. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. To pulverize; as, mealed powder. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • meal — meal1 [mēl] n. [ME mele < OE mæl, a measure, fixed time, meal, akin to Ger mal, time, mahl, meal < IE base * mē , to MEASURE] 1. any of the times, esp. the customary times, for eating, as breakfast, lunch, or dinner 2. the food served or… …   English World dictionary

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