English
heapmeal
Heapmeal comes from Old English hēapmǣlum ‘in heaps, heapmeal’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *haupamālum.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*haupamālumreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hēapmǣlum‘in heaps, heapmeal’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*hepemelereconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1902heapmeal
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*haupamālumreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hēapmǣlum‘in heaps, heapmeal’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*hepemelereconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1902heapmeal
Earliest quotation: 1902, Old South Church, Mass.): “There was then no delay, so that greater hosts…”
Formed from heap + -meal
Proto-Indo-European *koupos ‘hill’
Proto-Germanic *haupaz ‘heap, pile’
Proto-West Germanic *haup ‘heap, pile’
Old English hēap
Middle English hepe ‘crowd, multitude, assembly’
English heap
Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *haupamālum
Today it means
adv In heaps, or heap by heap; in large quantities or numbers.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *haupamālum / heapmeal