What does "meal" mean?

meal

n. countable

A1 Beginner Oxford US //ˈmiɫ// UK //mˈiːl// meal

Archaic Dialect General-service Informal

n. an occasion when you sit down to eat food, such as breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It also refers to the food itself that you eat at that time.

n. an instance of eating food, typically at a set time and in a specific social or domestic context. Refers both to the event and the collective food items consumed.

SIMPLE

We usually eat our main meal in the evening.

CONTEXTUAL

The hotel provides a three-course meal as part of the standard room rate for all guests.

COMPLEX

While the nutritional content of a meal is important, the social ritual of gathering to share food often provides equal psychological benefit to the participants.

Synonyms

repast

Etymology 1

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”).

Etymology 2

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 (“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.

Etymology 3

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.

Idioms3 entries