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Synonyms

mead

1 American  
[meed] / mid /

noun

  1. an alcoholic liquor made by fermenting honey and water.

  2. any of various nonalcoholic beverages.

mead 2 American  
[meed] / mid /

noun

Archaic.

  1. meadow.

Mead 3 American  
[meed] / mid /

noun

  1. George Herbert, 1863–1931, U.S. philosopher and author.

  2. Margaret, 1901–78, U.S. anthropologist.

  3. Lake, a lake in NW Arizona and SE Nevada, formed 1936 by Hoover Dam. 115 miles (185 km) long; 227 sq. mi. (588 sq. km).

Mead 1 British  
/ miːd /

noun

  1. a reservoir in NW Arizona and SE Nevada, formed by the Hoover Dam across the Colorado River: one of the largest man-made lakes in the world. Area: 588 sq km (227 sq miles)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Mead 2 British  
/ miːd /

noun

  1. Margaret. 1901–78, US anthropologist. Her works include Coming of Age in Samoa (1928) and Male and Female (1949)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
mead 3 British  
/ miːd /

noun

  1. an alcoholic drink made by fermenting a solution of honey, often with spices added

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
mead 4 British  
/ miːd /

noun

  1. an archaic or poetic word for meadow

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of mead1

First recorded before 900; Middle English mede, Old English medu, meodu; cognate with Dutch mee, German Met, Old Norse mjǫthr “mead”; akin to Greek méthy “wine,” Sanskrit madhu “honey”

Origin of mead2

First recorded before 1000; Middle English mede, Old English mǣd; meadow

Vocabulary lists containing mead

Medieval Europe - Middle School

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Medieval Europe - High School

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In 2013, previously unidentified fingerprints on a "Polish mead" bottle from a wardrobe in the victim's bedroom matched the defendant's on the police database.

From BBC • Oct. 24, 2023

In addition to apple orchards and vegetable farmers, shoppers can hit up vendors who specialize in mead, yak meat, empanadas, crêpes, Polish sausage and more.

From Salon • Dec. 4, 2022

Ivo Midrla, running a stand selling mead and fried potato chips, said the two coronavirus years made a big dent in his business.

From Reuters • Nov. 27, 2022

The monster’s status as “outsider” is precisely what enables the Danes inside the mead hall their positive self-regard.

From New York Times • Apr. 15, 2022

It was not lawn, nor pasture, nor mead, nor woodland, nor lea, nor arable, nor waste land.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.