Piecemeal

Part of speech: adjective, adverb

Pronunciation: /ˈpiːs.miːl/

Definitions

1. Carried out or produced gradually in small sections rather than all at once
2. Describing an approach where a process is completed bit by bit instead of fully in one go
3. Referring to tasks or constructions performed incrementally, piece by piece

Etymology: The "-meal" in "piecemeal" is a word of its own. In Old English, "mǣl" meant "time" or "measure", and the dative plural "mǣlum" was used in phrases meaning "at a time" or "by portions". Old English "styċċemǣlum" meant "in pieces, bit by bit", and it is this sense that survives. The "-meal" ending turns up in other words too, such as "limb-meal" and "inch-meal", which once described things done limb by limb or inch by inch. In Middle English the word appeared as "pecemele", combining "pece" (piece) with "mele", a form of that same Old English "mǣl". So the word is built from two plain parts: a noun for a fragment, and a fossil of an old word for measured portions. Its modern sense of doing something in stages rather than all at once follows directly from that original idea of dividing a whole into bits.

Synonyms: fragmentary, gradual, incremental, partial

Antonyms: complete, whole, entire