eldertongue

Old English · noun

mæl

Normalised mǣl

Part of speech
noun, neuter
Declension
strong a-stem
IPA
/mæːl/
Syllables
mæːl (1 syllable)
Modern English
mealoccasionmeal-timemeasureseason

Meaning

  1. a measure

    mǣltange

    a pair of compasses

  2. mark, sign (especially a cross)

    An. DCCLXXIII Hēr ōþēowde rēad Crīstes mǣl on heofonum æfter sunnan setlgange. ⁊ þȳ ġēare ġefuhtan Myrċe ⁊ Cantware æt Ottanforda.

    Year 773 In this year a red crucifix appeared in the heavens after the setting of the sun. And in that year, Mercia and Kent fought at Otford.

    The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

  3. time, occasion, season

    mǣlċearu

    cares or troubles of the time

  4. the time for eating, meal-time, a meal

    He gereordade æt anum mæle fif þusend manna

    He fed at one meal five thousand men. (Wulfstan)

Declension

Declension of mæl
SingularPlural
Nominative mǣlmǣl
Accusative mǣlmǣl
Genitive mǣlesmǣla
Dative mǣlemǣlum

All forms (5)

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *māl, from Proto-Germanic *mēlą, from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- (“to measure”). Cognate with Old Frisian mēl (West Frisian miel), Old Saxon -māl, Dutch maal, Old High German māl (German Mal (“time”), Mahl (“meal”)), Old Norse mál (Danish and Swedish mål), Gothic (mēl, “time, hour”). The Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron), Latin mensus, Russian ме́ра (méra), Lithuanian mẽtas.

Descendants

meal

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mæl · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution