/ˈmɛdəl/, [ˈmɛd.ɫ̩], [ˈmɛɾ.ɫ̩]
OriginFrom Middle English [Term?], from Middle French medaille, medale, from Italian medaglia (originally "half a denarius"), from Early Medieval Latin medālia, feminine derived via dissimilation (/dj–lj/ > /d–lj/) from mediālia, neuter plural of Late Latin mediālis (“middle”, adjective), from Classical Latin medius.
- A stamped metal disc used as a personal ornament, a charm, or a religious object.
“Whether their images, shrines, relics, consecrated things, holy water, medals, benedictions, those divine amulets, holy exorcisms, and the sign of the cross, be available in this disease?”
- A stamped or cast metal object (usually a disc), particularly one awarded as a prize or reward.
- colloquial, intransitiveTo win a medal.
“He medalled twice at the Olympics.”
“I dashed into the mall; bought a gift; raced to the card store, snapped up a two-fer gift-bag special and was back in my car in 26 minutes. I could medal in power shopping.”
“Vocab-wise, medalling and PB-ing are now totally part-and-parcelled, and most experts in South Korea believe podiumed, finalled and all-comered are not far off lexiconing.”
- transitiveTo award a medal to.
- A surname from Spanish in turn from Galician.
Formsmedals(plural) · medals(present, singular, third-person) · medaling(US, participle, present) · medalling(UK, participle, present) · medaled(US, participle, past) · medaled(US, past) · medalled(UK, participle, past) · medalled(UK, past) · Medals(plural)