What is "mead"

Mead \Mead\ (m[=e]d), n. [OE. mede, AS. meodo; akin to D. mede, G. met, meth, OHG. metu, mitu, Icel. mj["o][eth]r, Dan. mi["o]d, Sw. mj["o]d, Russ. med', Lith. midus, W. medd, Gr. me`qy wine, Skr. madhu honey, a sweet drink, as adj., sweet.

1. A fermented drink made of water and honey with malt, yeast, etc.; metheglin; hydromel.
   --Chaucer.

2. A drink composed of sirup of sarsaparilla or other flavoring extract, and water. It is sometimes charged with carbonic acid gas. [U. S.]

Mead \Mead\, n. [AS. m[=ae]d. See Meadow.] A meadow.

A mede All full of freshe flowers, white and reede.
--Chaucer.

To fertile vales and dewy meads My weary, wandering steps he leads.
--Addison.

"fermented honey drink," Old English medu, from Proto-Germanic *meduz (cognates: Old Norse mjöðr, Danish mjød, Old Frisian and Middle Dutch mede, Old High German metu, German Met "mead"), from PIE root *medhu- "honey, sweet drink" (cognates: Sanskrit madhu "sweet, sweet drink, wine, honey," Greek methy "wine," Old Church Slavonic medu, Lithuanian medus "honey," Old Irish mid, Welsh medd, Breton mez "mead"). Synonymous but unrelated early Middle English meþeglin yielded Chaucer's meeth.

"meadow," Old English mæd, Anglian med "meadow, pasture," from Proto-Germanic *medwo (cognates: Old Frisian mede, Dutch made, German Matte "meadow," Old English mæþ "harvest, crop"), from PIE *metwa- "a mown field," from root *me- (4) "mow, cut down grass or grain" (see mow (v.)). Now only archaic or poetic.

Etymology 1 alt. 1 An alcoholic drink fermented from honey and water. 2 (context US English) A drink composed of syrup of sarsaparilla or other flavouring extract, and water, and sometimes charged with carbonic acid gas. n. 1 An alcoholic drink fermented from honey and water. 2 (context US English) A drink composed of syrup of sarsaparilla or other flavouring extract, and water, and sometimes charged with carbonic acid gas. Etymology 2

n. (context poetic English) A meadow.

Mead is an alcoholic drink made from honey

Mead may also refer to:

• Mead (surname)

Mead (; archaic and dialectal "medd"; from Old English "medu",) is an alcoholic beverage created by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 8% ABV to more than 20%. The defining characteristic of mead is that the majority of the beverage's fermentable sugar is derived from honey. It may be still, carbonated, or naturally sparkling; dry, semi-sweet, or sweet.

Mead was produced in ancient history throughout Europe, Africa and Asia.

Mead has played an important role in the beliefs and mythology of some peoples. One such example is the Mead of Poetry, a mead of Norse mythology crafted from the blood of the wise being Kvasir which turns the drinker into a poet or scholar.

The terms "mead" and "honey-wine" often are used synonymously. Some cultures, though, differentiate honey-wine from mead. For example, Hungarians hold that while mead is made of honey, water and beer-yeast (barm), honey-wine is watered honey fermented by recrement of grapes or other fruits.

Mead is an impact crater on Venus named in honor of the cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead.

Mead crater is the largest impact crater on Venus, with a diameter of 280 km (174miles). The crater has an inner and an outer ring and a small ejecta blanket surrounding the outer ring. The crater floor looks very similar in morphology to the surrounding plain.

Mead is classified as a multi-ring crater with its innermost, concentric scarp being interpreted as the rim of the original crater cavity. No inner peak-ring of mountain massifs is observed on Mead. The presence of hummocky, radar-bright crater ejecta crossing the radar-dark floor terrace and adjacent outer rim scarp suggests that the floor terrace is probably a giant rotated block that is concentric to, but lies outside of, the original crater cavity. The flat, somewhat brighter inner floor of Mead is interpreted to result from considerable infilling of the original crater cavity by impact melt and/or by volcanic lavas. To the southeast of the crater rim, emplacement of hummocky ejecta appears to have been impeded by the topography of preexisting ridges, thus suggesting a very low ground-hugging mode of deposition for this material.

Mead is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Albert E. Mead (1861–1909), fifth Governor of U.S. state of Washington
• Andrea Mead-Lawrence (1932–2009), American alpine skier and Olympic gold medalist
• Carver Mead (b. 1934), U.S. computer scientist
• Cato Mead (ca. 1761-1846), black American Revolutionary War veteran
• Charlie Mead (b. 1921), Canadian baseball player
• Chip Mead (1950–1993), American race car driver from Dayton, Ohio
• Chris Mead (1940–2003), ornithologist
• Courtland Mead (b. 1987), U.S. actor, best known for playing Danny Torrance in Stephen King's The Shining
• Cowles Mead (1776–1844), U.S. Representative from Georgia
• Daniel W. Mead (1862–1948), American engineer
• Darren Mead (b. 1971), Australian rules footballer
• David Mead (disambiguation)
• Dorothy Mead (1928–1975), English painter
• Elizabeth Storrs Mead (1832–1917), American educator and President of Mount Holyoke College
• Elwood Mead (1858–1936), U.S. politician and engineer, head of the Bureau of Reclamation
• George Herbert Mead (1863–1931), philosopher, sociologist
• G. R. S. Mead (1863–1933), English author, editor, and esotericist
• Hassan Mead (b. 1989), cross country and track and field athlete
• James M. Mead (1885–1964), U.S. Senator from New York
• John A. Mead (1841–1920), U.S. politician from Vermont
• Jon Mead (b. 1967), Canadian curler
• Larkin Goldsmith Mead (1815–1910), American sculptor
• Lawrence Mead (b. 1943), American political scientist
• Lee Mead (b. 1981), British musical theatre actor
• Les Mead, Australian rugby league footballer
• Lynda Lee Mead (b. ca 1939), 1960 winner of the Miss America pageant
• Marcia Mead (1879–1967), architect
• Margaret Mead (1901–1978), anthropologist
• Mary Mead (1935-1996), rancher and Wyoming politician
• Matt Mead (born 1962), Governor of Wyoming
• Matthew Mead (disambiguation)
• Michael Mead (b. 1956), English professional ballroom dance champion and choreographer
• Mike Mead, American drummer
• Pete Mead (1924–2007), American middleweight boxer
• Phil Mead (1887–1958), English cricketer
• Richard Mead (1673–1754), English physician
• Richelle Mead (b. 1976), American fantasy author
• Shepherd Mead (1914–1994), American author
• Sidney Moko Mead (b. 1927) New Zealand Māori anthropologist, historian, artist, teacher and writer
• Sister Janet Mead (b. 1938), Australian Catholic nun and musician
• Slade Mead (b. 1961), former U.S. Senator for Arizona
• Steven Mead (b. 1962), British euphonium solo player
• Stu Mead (b. 1955), American painter
• Syd Mead (b. 1933), industrial designer, worked on films such as Blade Runner
• Taylor Mead (1924–2013), American writer and actor
• Tom Mead (1918–2004), Australian politician
• Walter Mead (1869–1954), Essex cricketer
• Walter Russell Mead (b. 1952), American foreign thinker
• William Rutherford Mead (1846–1928), structural engineer, co-founder of the architecture firm McKim, Mead, and White