different between meal vs tiffin

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): [mi???]
• Rhymes: -i?l

Etymology 1

From Middle English mel, from Old English m?l (“measure, time, occasion, set time, time for eating, meal”), from Proto-West Germanic *m?l, from Proto-Germanic *m?l?, from Proto-Indo-European *meh?- (“to measure”).

Cognate with West Frisian miel, Dutch maal (“meal, time, occurrence”), German Mal (“time”), Mahl (“meal”), Swedish mål (“meal”); and (from Indo-European) with Ancient Greek ?????? (métron, “measure”), Latin mensus, Russian ????? (méra, “measure”), Lithuanian m?tas. Related to Old English m?þ (“measure, degree, proportion”).

Noun

meal (plural meals)

2. Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity (as opposed to a snack).
   • c1450, Secreta Secretorum?

     He that will cast meal upon meal is not able to have (a) long life.

   • c1500, The King and the Hermit?

     I have been there and taken deal / And have had many (a) merry meal.

   • 1535?, Dyfference Astron?

     But above all things beware that thou eat not till thou feel thy stomach empty and that it hath made good digestion of the first meal.

   • 1569, Fenton, Wonders?

     Besides he was so fantastical and unruly in his appetites, that he used no common meats at his meals, but was fed with the combs of cocks, the tongues of peahens.

   • 1606, Bodley?

     Sir, I was thrice at Lamhith, to have dined with the Archeb since your departure, and still he was to dine, at the Court or with some Bishop. But I must and will find him as soon as I may: and rather at a meal, then otherwise, because I would have means, to participate at large, about our Collation.

   • 1606, William Shakespeare, Macbeth?

     Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep in the affliction of these terrible dreams that shake us nightly.

   • 1640, Richard Brathwait, Ar't asleep Husband? A BOULSTER LECTURE, Stored with all variety of witty Jests, merry Tales, and other pleasant passages; extracted from the choycest Flowers of Phi?losophy, Poesy, ancient and moderne History?

     Give me but so many meals, and thou shalt find me one of the strongest Turkish males that ever English gennet bore.

   • 1796, Robert Bage, Hermsprong: or, Man As He Is Not?

     This letter was written whilst my hostess of the George was preparing the last meal I ever was to eat.

   • 1835, Edgar Allan Poe, The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall?

     Puss, who seemed in a great measure recovered from her illness, now made a hearty meal of the dead bird, and then went to sleep with much apparent satisfaction.

   • 1837-1839, Charles Dickens, The Adventures of Oliver Twist?

     Indeed, the worthy gentleman, stimulated perhaps by the immediate prospect of being in active service, was in great spirits and good humor; in proof whereof, it may be here remarked, that he humorously drank all the beer at a draught; and did not utter, on a rough calculation, more than fourscore oaths during the whole progress of the meal.

   • 1982, Steven King, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger?

     After the meal, he rinsed the cans from which they had eaten (marveling again at his own water extravagance), and when he turned around, Jake was asleep again.

   • 2016, Melissa Clark, Consider This Permission to Eat Burrata for Dinner in The New York Times?

     In this recipe, I go even further, adding a robust salad to turn a lone cheese into a satisfying summer meal.

3. Food served or eaten as a repast.
   • a1450, The Macro Plays?

     If thou wilt fare well at meat and meal, come and follow me.

   • 1855, Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass?

     This is the meal pleasantly set ... . this is the meat and drink for natural hunger. It is for the wicked just the same as the righteous.
4. (obsolete) A time or an occasion.
   • The Lamentation of the Virgin Mary (MS. Cantab., Ff. ii., 38, fol. 47.), in: 1847, Thomas Wright (editor), The Chester Plays: A Collection of Mysteries founded upon scriptural Subjects, and formerly represented by the Trades of Chester at Whitsuntide, vol. II, p. 208f.:

     Ye wolde wepe at every mele;
     But for my sone wepe ye never a dele.

     You would weep at every meal, but for my son you never weep a deal.

   • a1400?-a1470?, in: 1999/2006, The Governance of England: Otherwise called The Difference between an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy. By Sir John Fortescue. A Revised Text edited with Introduction, Notes, and Appendices by Charles Plummer, p. 132:

     […] by occasion whereoff thai woll than at every mele groche with the kinge […]

     […] by occasion whereof they will, then at every meal, grouch with the king […]

   • a1450, Henry Lovelich, The History of the Holy Grail?

     Which was to them a sorry meal.

   • a1450, Henry Lovelich, Merlin?

     Also soon as the dragons together feal, betwixt them shall begin a sorry meal.

   • a1450, The York Plays?

     What mean ye.. to make mourning at ilk a meal?

   • 1481, William Caxton, Reynard the Fox?

     I shall do late you have so much that ten of you should not eat it at one meal.

   • a1500, Alexander-Cassamus Fragment?

     Of all the day throughout, keep I no better meal than on her to think.

   • c1500, In A Chyrch?

     Thou couth well weep at every meal.

Usage notes

• In the third sense, meal is a fossil word and is usually found in the archaic/obsolete phrase "at every (ilk a) meal" meaning "on every occasion", confer also "at ilk a tide". It fell out of common usage in the late 15th century. Also, "at one meal" sometimes meant at a time, at once, at one time or in one go; see also German auf einmal (literally “upon one meal”). "To keep (the) meal" probably used to mean "to use/spend one's time". A "sorry meal" used to mean a "grim occasion" such as a fight, setback, mishap or some sort of other misfortune.

• Meal, in the sense of "time" or "occasion", also survives in other set phrases, such as piecemeal (“one piece at a time”), footmeal (“one foot at a time”), heapmeal (“in large numbers”) etc.

References

The Middle English Dictionary

Hyponyms

• See also Thesaurus:meal

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English mele, from Old English melu (“meal, flour”), from Proto-Germanic *melw? (“meal, flour”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh?- (“to grind, mill”). Cognate with West Frisian moal, Dutch meel, German Mehl, Albanian miell, Proto-Slavic *melvo (“grain to be ground”) (Bulgarian ????? (mlivo)), Dutch malen (“to grind”), German mahlen (“to grind”), Old Irish melim (“I grind”), Latin mol? (“I grind”), Tocharian A/B malywët (“you press”)/melye (“they tread on”), Lithuanian málti, Old Church Slavonic ????? (ml?ti), Ancient Greek ???? (múl?, “mill”). More at mill.

Noun

meal (countable and uncountable, plural meals)

2. The coarse-ground edible part of various grains often used to feed animals; flour or a coarser blend than flour.

Derived terms

• cornmeal
• mealy
• oatmeal
• wholemeal
• bonemeal

Coordinate terms

• flour

Translations

Verb

meal (third-person singular simple present meals, present participle mealing, simple past and past participle mealed)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To yield or be plentiful in meal.
   • 1876, Notes and Queries (page 73)

     Of course the yield of grain was small, but much greater than could have been expected; and, the ears being well filled, it mealed well. The pastures were burnt up, so that there was nothing left for the cattle to eat.

Etymology 3

Variation of mole (compare Scots mail), from Middle English mole, mool, from Old English m?l, m?l (“spot, mark, blemish”), from Proto-Germanic *mail? (“wrinkle, spot”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“to soil”). More at mole.

Noun

meal (plural meals)

1. (Britain dialectal) A speck or spot.
2. A part; a fragment; a portion.

Verb

meal (third-person singular simple present meals, present participle mealing, simple past and past participle mealed)

1. (transitive) To defile or taint.

Anagrams

• Elam, Elma, Leam, Lema, Malé, alme, amel, lame, lamé, leam, lema, male, mela, mela-

Aromanian

Alternative forms

• mealu

Etymology

From Albanian mal, cognate to Aromanian mal and Romanian mal with the same origin.

Noun

meal n (plural mealuri)

1. steep, scarped shore region
2. (figuratively) boondocks

References

Northern Kurdish

Noun

meal ?

1. meaning

Romansch

Alternative forms

• (Rumantsch Grischun) mel
• (Sursilvan) mèl
• (Surmiran) mêl

Etymology

From Latin mel, from Proto-Indo-European *mélid.

Noun

meal m

1. (Sutsilvan) honey

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Middle Irish melaim (“I enjoy”), from Proto-Celtic *mel (“soft”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *melh?-, source of English mild, Old Irish meldach.

Verb

meal (past mheal, future mealaidh, verbal noun mealadh or mealtainn, past participle mealte)

1. enjoy

Synonyms

• còrd ri
• gabh tlachd ann

Derived terms

• meal do naidheachd, meal ur naidheachd (“congratulations”)

English

Etymology

Apparently from English tiffing, present participle of tiff (“to take a small drink, to sip”) (slang).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t?f?n/
• Hyphenation: tif?fin

Noun

tiffin (countable and uncountable, plural tiffins)

1. (Britain, India) A (light) midday meal or snack; luncheon.
2. (Britain, India) A container used to carry a tiffin; tiffin box, tiffin carrier, tiffin container.

Derived terms

• tiffin box
• tiffin carrier
• tiffin container

Descendants

• Chinese Pidgin English: tiffin

Verb

tiffin (third-person singular simple present tiffins, present participle tiffining, simple past and past participle tiffined)

1. (Britain, India, intransitive) To eat a (light) midday meal or snack.

Synonyms

• tiff

Chinese Pidgin English

Etymology

From English tiffin.

Noun

tiffin

1. luncheon

References

• Gow, W. S. P. (1924) Gow’s Guide to Shanghai, 1924: A Complete, Concise and Accurate Handbook of the City and District, Especially Compiled for the Use of Tourists and Commercial Visitors to the Far East, Shanghai, page 108: “Tiffin: (Indian) luncheon.”