Dictionary

undermeal en · NOUN

Etymology

From Middle English undermele, undermel (“the early part of the afternoon, midday, noon; an afternoon meal or nap”), from Old English undernmǣl (“morning, morning time; morning meal”), equivalent to undern + meal. Compare the word for midday and the word undern.

Meanings

1. (obsolete) Synonym of undern: originally terce and the morning, later (UK, dialectal, obsolete) noon and the early afternoon.
   • By the time—he hath din'd at a taverne, and slept his undermeals at a bawdy-house, his purse is [empty]. 1599, Nash, Leuten Stuff:
2. (obsolete) Synonym of siesta: an afternoon nap.
   • In a narrower limit than the forty years' undermeal of the seven sleepers. 1599, Nash, Leuten Stuff:
3. (obsolete) An afternoon meal or snack.
   • I think I am furnished for [=with] Cather'ne pears, [enough] for one undermeal. c. 1614-1631, Ben Johnson, Bartholomew Fayre: A Comedy:
   • Another great supper, or undermeal, was made ready for them, coming home from ditching and plowing. 1608, Withals
   • Why should not thy soul have her due drinks, breakfasts, meals, undermeals, bevers, and aftermeals, as well as thy body?' 1630, Samuel Ward, “Sermon on the Life of Faith, quoted in 1883”, in Kingsthorpiana; Or, Researches in a Church Chest, page 97:

Forms

Synonyms

meal (meal) · undern · terce · noon · shut-eye (afternoon nap) · siesta