Meal

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /miːl/

Definitions

1. A portion of food eaten at a specific time of day to satisfy hunger and provide nourishment
2. A planned or prepared combination of food items consumed at a certain time to fulfill dietary needs and culinary traditions
3. An occasion where food is served and consumed, often as part of daily routines to offer sustenance and social interaction

Etymology: The word has two unrelated ancestors that happened to collapse into one spelling. The sense "food eaten together" comes from Old English "mǣl," which originally meant "measure," "set time," or "occasion." A meal was thus a fixed time for eating, and the food was named after the appointed hour rather than the dish. The same root gave Latin "mensus" and Greek "métron," both meaning "measure." A second, separate word also reached modern English as "meal," meaning ground grain or flour. It came from Old English "melu," tied to the idea of grinding, and is related to Latin "molō" ("to grind") and Greek "múlē" ("mill"). Its sense is about the powdered product, not the act of eating. Because both words ended up spelled and pronounced alike, "meal" in the sense of cornmeal or oatmeal sits beside the eating sense without any shared history.

Synonyms: repast, feast, dinner, breakfast, lunch

Antonyms: snack, fast, hunger, emptiness, deprivation