Meal

n. [A-S. melu, melo, meolo, genitive melewes; O. H. Ger. melo, genitive melawes; M. H. Ger. mel, genitive melwes, N. H. Ger. mehl, Icel. miöl, Sw. mjöl, Dan. mel, D. meel, from Goth., O. Sax., & O. H. Ger. malan, to grind in a mill; N. H. Ger. mahlen, Icel. mala, allied to Lat. molere.] The substance of edible grain ground to powder; flour, especially of a coarser kind, as of oats or maize.

¶ The term meal is properly applied to the coarser powder produced by grinding without bolting, and, in the United States, is chiefly limited in its application to ground Indian corn. The word is sometimes employed in forming self-explaining compounds; as, meal-bin, meal-house, meal-man, meal-monger, meal-tub, and the like.