• TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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    17 days ago

    Not where that comes from. Both from Proto-Indo-European, but “meal” as in “eating a meal” derives from “to measure” while “meal” as in “oatmeal” derives from “to mill”. They’re false cognates.

    御飯 (“gohan”), meanwhile, literally is just “cooked rice”.

    • loppy@fedia.io
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      17 days ago

      cognate (n): Related in origin, as certain words in genetically related languages descended from the same ancestral root

    • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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      13 days ago

      i assume it’s more clear in other languages, e.g. in swedish it’s “mjöl” for fine powders and “mål” for foodstuff.