Meat Definition

meat

English

Etymology

From Old English mete, cognate with Frisian mete, Old Saxon meti, Old High German maz (“food”), Old Icelandic matr, Gothic mats, from a Proto-Germanic *matiz. A -ja- derivation from the same base is found in Middle Dutch and Middle Low German met "lean pork", whence Modern Low German Mett "minced meat" (whence 16th c. German Mettwurst, a kind of sausage)

Probably cognate with Old Irish mess "animal feed", Welsh mes "acorns". The further etymology is uncertain. Some suggest derivation from a Indo-European verb base cognate with Latin madere (“to be wet”), Greek μαστός (mastos, “wet, breast”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: mēt, IPA: /miːt/, SAMPA: /mi:t/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -iːt
• Homophones: meet, mete

Noun

meat (countable and uncountable; plural meats)

1. (now archaic, dialectal) Food, for animals or humans, especially solid food. See also meat and drink. [from 8th c.]
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew XXV:

     I was anhongred, and ye gave me meate. I thursted, and ye gave me drinke.

   • 1623, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens:

     Your greatest want is, you want much of meat: / Why should you want? Behold, the Earth hath Rootes [...].

   • 1936, Djuna Barnes, Nightwood, Faber & Faber 2007, p. 13:

     The way she said ‘dinner’ and the way she said ‘champagne’ gave meat and liquid their exact difference [...].

2. (now rare) A type of food, a dish. [from 9th c.]
   • 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book X:

     Sir Palomydes entyrde into the castell; and within a whyle he was served with many dyverse metys.

3. (now archaic) A meal. [from 9th c.]
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew ch. 8:

     And hit cam to passe, thatt Jesus satt at meate in his housse.

4. (uncountable) The flesh of an animal used as food. [from 14th c.]
   • 2010, Andy Atkins, The Guardian, 19 Oct 2010:

     While people who eat no meat at all are identified and identifiable as vegetarians, there is no commonly accepted term for people who eat it only a couple of times a week and are selective about its quality.

5. (uncountable) Any relatively thick, solid part of a fruit, nut etc. [from 15th c.]

   The apple looked fine on the outside, but the meat was not very firm.

6. (slang) a penis. [from 16th c.]
   • 2011, Wade Wright, Two Straight Guys, page 41

     Both men were completely, and very actively into this face fucking! Suddenly Bill pulled off of Jim's meat and said,

7. (countable) A type of meat, by anatomic position and provenance. [from 16th c.]

   The butchery's profit rate on various meats varies greatly

8. (colloquial) The best or most substantial part of something. [from 19th c.]

   We recruited him right from the meat of our competitor.

9. (sports) The sweet spot of a bat or club (in cricket, golf, baseball etc.). [from 20th c.]

   He hit it right on the meat of the bat.

10. A meathead.

    Throw it in here, meat.

11. (Australian Aboriginal) A totem; metonymy for its owner(s).
    • 1949, Oceania, Vol. XX

      When a stranger comes to an aboriginal camp or settlement in north-western NSW, he is asked by one of the older aborigines: "What meat (clan) are you?"

    • 1973, M. Fennel & A. Grey, Nucoorilma

      Granny Sullivan was ‘dead against’ the match at first because they did not know "what my meat was and because I was a bit on the fair side."

    • 1977, A. K. Eckermann, Group Organisation and Identity

      Some people maintained that she was "sung" because her family had killed or eaten the "meat" (totem) of another group.

    • 1992, P. Taylor Tell it Like it Is

      Our family […] usually married the red kangaroo "meat".

    • 1993, J. Janson, Gunjies

      That’s a beautiful goanna. […]. He’s my meat, can’t eat him.

Usage notes

The meaning "flesh of an animal used as food" is often understood to exclude fish and other seafood. For example, the rules for abstaining from meat in the Roman Catholic Church do not extend to fish; likewise, some people who consider themselves vegetarians also eat fish (though the more precise term for such a person is pescetarian).

Synonyms

• flesh
• See also Wikisaurus:meat

Antonyms

• drink

Derived terms

Anagrams

• mate, maté
• meta, Meta
• tame
• team

Latin

Verb

meat

1. third-person singular present active indicative of meō

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