meal
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
meal¹
- /ˈmiːl/
- [ˈmɪi̯l]
Rhymes with -iːl
Where it comes from
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 meals
- 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.
- Food served or eaten as a repast. a1450, The Macro Playsː If thou wilt fare well at meat and meal, come and follow me.
- 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 […]
- 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.
meal²
- /ˈmiːl/
- [ˈmɪi̯l]
Rhymes with -iːl
Where it comes from
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.
noun meals
- 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). 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
- Any of various similarly granular materials prepared from other sources, such as bones or wood.
- Any of various other granular or powdery materials, either ground by humans or occurring in nature, named figuratively after a resemblance to grain meal.
verb meals · mealing · mealed
- 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.
meal³
- /ˈmiːl/
- [ˈmɪi̯l]
Rhymes with -iːl
Where it comes from
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.
verb meals · mealing · mealed
- To defile or taint. Were he meal'd with that / Which he corrects, than were he tyrannous.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: repast, dinner, luncheon, menu, dining, lunch, diner, dine, supper, restaurant, canteen, breakfast, catering, plate, dish, buffet
Translations
Every language
noun food that is prepared and eaten
| Español | comida, pitanza, condumio, vianda |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 끼니 kkini, 밥 bap, 식사 siksa, 진지 jinji |
| 日本語 | 食事 shokuji, めし meshi, 御飯 gohan, ご飯 gohan |
| 中文 | 餐 cān, 飯 /饭 fàn |
| हिन्दी | भोजन bhojan, जेमन jeman |
| Português | refeição |
| Français | repas |
| Deutsch | Mahlzeit, Essen |
| Italiano | pasto |
| Ελληνικά | γεύμα gévma, φαγητό fagitó |
| Română | masă |
| Русский | еда́ jedá, пи́ща píšča, снедь snedʹ, угоще́нье ugoščénʹje |
| Tiếng Việt | bữa, bữa cơm |
| العربية | وَجْبَة wajba, أكلة ʔakla |
| עברית | אֲרוּחָה arukhá |
Talk about this word "meal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/meal. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. meal. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/meal "meal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/meal.Cite this
@misc{meal_2026,
title = {meal},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/meal},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
