Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An ear of corn.
  • noun Corn; maize.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An ear of maize or Indian corn; specifically, in the plural, maize: as, a sack of mealies.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun South Africa An ear or kernel of maize; in plural as mass noun: maize, corn.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an ear of corn

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Afrikaans mielie, ultimately from Latin milium, millet (perhaps via Portuguese milho); see melə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From South African Dutch milie, mily ( > Afrikaans mielie), from obsolete Dutch milie ("millet, maize"), from Old French mil ("millet").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word mealie.

Examples

  • But after a week's feeding on impoop, as they called the mealie-meal porridge which was their staple food at the mines, they began to pick up.

    Reminiscences of a South African Pioneer 1899

  • Each month after she received her pension, Gogo bought them a large bag of finely ground white cornmeal, called mealie meal, which was cooked into a stiff porridge called pap.

    No Place Left to Bury the Dead Nicole Itano 2007

  • One of the staples of South Africa, for example, is the mealie, which is nothing more or less than our own

    An African Adventure Isaac Frederick Marcosson 1918

  • In other words, the decline was more rapid among staple foods (such as mealie meal) and less pronounced among refined foods.

    IOL: News 2010

  • In other words, the decline was more rapid among staple foods (such as mealie meal) and less pronounced among refined foods.

    IOL: News 2010

  • "Providing incentives, such as mealie-meal and food baskets and loans for income-generating activities, and lending a sympathetic ear to their plight will help boost the morale of caregivers and attract others to caregiving," states the report.

    Medindia Health News 2010

  • In other words, the decline was more rapid among staple foods (such as mealie meal) and less pronounced among refined foods.

    IOL: News 2010

  • In other words, the decline was more rapid among staple foods (such as mealie meal) and less pronounced among refined foods.

    IOL: News 2010

  • "unjustified price increases", especially on basic commodities such as mealie-meal, cooking oil, sugar and bread.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1998

  • Half of it consisted of red rye, the rest comprising 20% sugar waste, 20% mealie and 10% straw meal or foliage, resulting not just in malnutrition but deterioration of the digestive system.

    The Russians 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.