Mahlzeit

German

Etymology

15th century, from Mahl (“meal”) +‎ Zeit (“time”). The word Mahl (a spelling variant of Mal) originally meant "mealtime", but was transferred to the meal itself. The compound then assumed the sense "mealtime", but ultimately underwent the same semantic development yet again. Compare Dutch maaltijd, English mealtide, Danish måltid, Icelandic máltíð.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaːlˌt͡saɪ̯t/

• Audio (Austria)

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Noun

Mahlzeit f (genitive Mahlzeit, plural Mahlzeiten)

1. meal

   Synonyms: Essen, Mahl

   Hyponyms: Morgenmahlzeit, Mittagsmahlzeit, Abendmahlzeit, Zwischenmahlzeit

2. (dated) mealtime

   Synonym: Essenszeit

Declension

Declension of Mahlzeit [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Mahlzeit	die	Mahlzeiten
genitive	einer	der	Mahlzeit	der	Mahlzeiten
dative	einer	der	Mahlzeit	den	Mahlzeiten
accusative	eine	die	Mahlzeit	die	Mahlzeiten

Derived terms

• Henkersmahlzeit

Interjection

Mahlzeit!

1. (colloquial) Ellipsis of gesegnete Mahlzeit or prost Mahlzeit (literally “blessed meal”); enjoy your meal!

   Synonym: (more formal) guten Appetit

2. (colloquial) good day, good afternoon; greeting used around lunchtime, roughly between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., especially in the workplace

Derived terms

• prost Mahlzeit

Further reading

• “Mahlzeit” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Mahlzeit” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Mahlzeit” in Duden online
• “Mahlzeit” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.