meat
/mit/
meat
Definition
The flesh (muscle tissue) of an animal used as food, or a food designed to replicate its taste and texture (like plant-based meat).
Etymology
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”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian Miit (“meat”), Danish mad (“food”), Faroese and Icelandic matur (“food, meal”), Norn mader (“food”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish mat (“food”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐍄𐍃 (mats, “food”). 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.
Example Sentences
- "A large portion of domestic meat production comes from animals raised on factory farms."
- "The homesteading teenager shot a deer to supply his family with wild meat for the winter."
- "In many parts of the world, shark meat is an acceptable and desirable form of protein."