meat

Signification

1. The flesh (muscle tissue) of an animal used as food.
2. A type of meat, by anatomic position and provenance.
3. Food, for animals or humans, especially solid food. See also meat and drink.
4. A type of food, a dish.
5. A meal.
6. (obsolete) Meal; flour.
7. Any relatively thick, solid part of a fruit, nut etc.
8. (slang) A penis.
9. (colloquial) The best or most substantial part of something.
10. The sweet spot of a bat or club (in cricket, golf, baseball etc.).
11. (slang) A meathead.
12. A totem, or (by metonymy) a clan or clansman which uses it.

Prononcé comme (IPA)

/miːt/

Étymologie

From Middle English mete, from Old English mete (“food”), from Proto-West Germanic *mati, from Proto-Germanic *matiz (“food”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“to drip, ooze; grease, fat”). Cognate with West Frisian mete, Old Saxon meti, Old High German maz (“food”), Icelandic matur, Swedish mat, Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐍄𐍃 (mats).
A -ja- derivation from the same base is found in Middle Dutch and Middle Low German met (“lean pork”), from which Dutch met (“minced pork”) and German Mett (“minced meat”) derive, respectively. Compare also Old Irish mess (“animal feed”) and Welsh mes (“acorns”), English mast (“fodder for swine and other animals”), which are probably from the same root.