medal

From 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.

• enPR: mĕdʹ-əl, IPA^(key): /ˈmɛdəl/
  • (UK) IPA^(key): [ˈmɛd.ɫ̩]

    • Audio (Received Pronunciation):

      (file)

    • Audio (UK):

      (file)

    • Homophone: meddle
  • (US) IPA^(key): [ˈmɛɾ.ɫ̩]
    • Homophones: meddle, metal, mettle
  • (General Australian) IPA^(key): [ˈmeɾ.ɫ̩]
    • Homophones: meddle, metal, mettle
• Rhymes: -ɛdəl

medal (plural medals)

1. A stamped metal disc used as a personal ornament, a charm, or a religious object.
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
     , II.i.3:

     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?

2. A stamped or cast metal object (usually a disc), particularly one awarded as a prize or reward.

• → Japanese: メダル (medaru)
• → Korean: 메달 (medal)
• → Persian: مدال (medâl)

medal (third-person singular simple present medals, present participle medaling or medalling, simple past and past participle medaled or medalled)

1. (intransitive, sports, colloquial) To win a medal.

   He medalled twice at the Olympics.

   • 2004 October 29, Carol McAlice Currie, “Unposted laws make downtown seem unwelcoming”, in Statesman Journal, volume 152, number 214, Salem, OR, page 1C:

     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.

   • 2011 September 1, Harry Pearson, “London 2012 can legacy by verbing the noun”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     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.

   • 2013 January 13, “Je Ne Sais What?”, in The Good Wife, season 4, episode 12, spoken by Anna (Elizabeth Alderfer):

     I wanted to medal. I was pregnant and I wanted to medal.

   • 2022 March 9, Andrew Lawrence, “Brittney Griner’s Russian ordeal is a byproduct of WNBA’s shoestring funding”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     In 2008, after being passed over yet again for USA Basketball’s Beijing Olympics team, San Antonio Stars all-star Becky Hammon signed a four-year, $2m contract with CSKA Moscow that included a six-figure bonus for becoming a naturalised citizen and medaling at the Games.

   • 2024 July 30, Beau Dure, “What’s tougher than competing in an Olympic sport? Competing in two”, in The Guardian‎^[3]:

     Rebecca Romero medaled in rowing and track cycling in 2004 and 2008, joining East German swimmer-turned-handball player Roswitha Krause and several swimmers/divers as two-sport medalists.

   • 2024 August 20, Edward Helmore, “Five-time Olympian cyclist found dead in Las Vegas after choking on food”, in The Guardian‎^[4]:

     Though she never medalled at the Olympics, she did win a pair of golds at the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador in 2002.

2. (transitive) To award a medal to.

• final
• podium

• Delma, damel, delam, lamed

From French médaille, from Italian medaglia.

• Audio:

  (file)

medal (definite accusative medalı, plural medallar)

1. medal

• medalçı

• “medal” in Obastan.com.

Borrowed from Russian медаль (medalʹ)

medal

1. medal.

• Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎^[5], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN
• “medal”, in Luğatçıq (in Russian)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

medal (genitive medali, partitive medalit)

1. medal

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

• hõbemedal
• kuldmedal
• pronksmedal

• “medal”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009

• mental (Far Masovian)
• mentál (Kuyavia, Western Lublin, Eastern Lublin, Lublin Voivodeship)
• mantál (Near Masovian, Łuków County)

Borrowed from French médaille.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.dal/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛdal
• Syllabification: me‧dal

medal m inan (diminutive medalik, related adjective medalowy)

1. medal (stamped metal disc)

• medal in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• medal in Polish dictionaries at PWN