▪ I. veal, n.1
(viːl)
Forms: 4 vel (5 vell), 5–7 vele; 5 veel (feel), 6 veele; 5 veylle, 6 veyle (Sc. veil, weill); 6–7 veale (6 ueale, feale), 6– veal (Sc. 7 weall, 8 veall).
[a. AF. vel, OF. veel (viel, veal, vael, etc.; mod.F. veau), vedel, = Prov. vedel(h, Cat. vedel, It. and Pg. vitello:—L. vitellus, dim. of vitulus calf.]
1. The flesh of a calf as an article of diet.
| c 1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 176 ‘Bet is,’ quod he, ‘a pyk than a pikerell, And bet than olde boef is the tendre vel’. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) vi. 72 Thei eten but lytille or non of Flessche of Veel or of Beef. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 28 A sawce hit is For vele and venyson, iwys. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 508/2 Veel, flesche, vitulina. 1515 Barclay Egloges ii. (1570) B iii/2 Fat porke or vele, & namely such as is bought For easier price when they be leane & nought. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 177 They also coompare the fleshe of these tortoyses to be equall with veale in taste. 1620 Venner Via Recta iii. 51 Veale is a more odoriferous flesh then any other. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxxiv. 137 These people feed on all, as Veal, Mutton, Pork,..and finally of all other beasts whatsoever. 1706–7 Farquhar Beaux' Strat. i. i, Aim. Have you any Veal? Bon. Veal! Sir, we had a delicate Loin of Veal on Wednesday last. 1780 Beckford Biog. Mem. 125 The most perfect fillet of veal that ever made the mouth of man to water. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 127 In the rearing of calves for veal in Holland, it is usual to confine them in..pens. 1890 Spectator 4 Oct., What insipid and tasteless cheer does veal afford! |
2. A calf,
esp. as killed for food or intended for this purpose. Now
rare.
| 1422 Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. 244 Flesh of Velis, Vynegre, hemroll, and Potage of oot-mell. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun (Roxb.) 71 The ydolatiers of the golden veel. 1466 Paston Lett. II. 269 For purveying of all the velys, lambes,..certain piggs and polaly. 1513 Douglas æneid xii. Prol. 185 Tydy ky lowys, veilys by thame rynnis. 1544 in Star Chamber Cases (Selden) II. 305 The prices of Flesh, as of Beefes, Muttons, Veales, & Porkes. 1582 Nottingham Rec. IV. 199, vj. fatte wethres, at viij s. viij d. a pece, and ij. veyles, at vj s. viij d. a pece. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 25 The flesh..of their swine, oxen, and veales haue the best relish. 1648 Herrick Hesper., Paneg. Sir L. Pemberton 63 When guests make their abode To eate thy Bullocks thighs, thy Veales, thy fat Weathers. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 315/1 Upon these [drag hooks] are hung two Veals or Muttons at a time. 1737 Ochtertyre House Bk. (S.H.S.) 13 Killd a Veall. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Aug. 319 In selling veals to butchers, their haggling was extremely disagreeable. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes I. 265 My mother..would receive her prodigal and kill the fatted veal for me. 1898 Westcott David Harum xvii, Jim brought three or four veals into town one spring to sell. |
| collect. 1710 Addison Tatler No. 148 ¶1 The Flesh of Lamb, Veal, Chicken, and other Animals under Age. |
3. a. attrib., chiefly in names of dishes, etc., made from veal, as
veal (and ham) pie,
veal broth,
veal cutlet,
veal gravy, etc.
| a 1625 Fletcher Hum. Lieut. iii. vii, Ye Porridg gutted Slaves, ye Veal broth-Boobies! 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Gt. Eater Kent 14 Three sixe-penny veale pyes..were presented to the scalado. 1675 E. W[ilson] Spadacrene Dunelmensis 39 This [water]..helpeth all internal corrosions, if taken in Veal Broath fasting. 1725 Fam. Dict. s.v., Put your Veal Stakes into the Pan again, and finish the dressing with Veal Sweet-Breads. Ibid., Some Veal Gravy must be pour'd upon it. 1728 E. Smith Compl. Housewife (ed. 2) 41 (heading) To make veal cutlets. 1747 tr. Astruc's Fevers 340 Let the patient also drink plentifully of veal broth. 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housek. (1778) 19 About a pound of beef or veal suet. 1811 Jane Austen Sense & Sens. II. iv. 53 Preferring salmon to cod, or boiled fowls to veal cutlets. 1827 Scott Surg. Dau. ii, Lamb and spinage, and a veal Florentine. 1833 L. Ritchie Wand. by Loire 182 A large baby in one arm, and a basket of..cold veal-pie in the other. 1848 Dickens Dombey xviii, He treats Mrs. Perch to a veal cutlet and Scotch ale. 1848 Thackeray Pendennis (1849) I. v. 49 That girl, sir, makes the best veal and ham pie in England. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Veal-tea, a thick gelatinous soup or broth made of the fleshy part of the fillet or knuckle of veal. 1861 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 942 Saturday. 1. Rump-steaks, broiled, and oyster sauce, mashed potatoes; veal-and-ham pie. 1885 Jerome On the Stage 48 Property Man, behind, making a veal and ham pie, out of an old piece of canvas and a handful of shavings. |
b. Special
Combs.:
veal-bled a., bled to exhaustion, like a calf intended for veal;
veal-bones,
fig. youth, nonage;
veal calf, (
a)
= sense 2; (
b) a variety of leather;
veal-farmer, one who rears calves for the butcher;
veal-like a., resembling (that of) veal;
† veal money (see
quot.);
veal parmigiana [
It. parmigiano Parmesan cheese], a dish of small escalopes of veal and cheese;
veal piccata, a dish of small escalopes of veal;
veal-skin, (
a) the skin of a calf; (
b) a skin-disease characterized by white shining spots.
| 1899 Westm. Gaz. 8 Sept. 3/1 The exhausted, and almost *veal-bled and forlorn bull. |
| 1785 R. Cumberland Observer No. 92, Our process seldom fails in either case, when we apply it timely, and especially to young poets in their *veal bones, as the saying is. 1888 Addy Sheffield Gloss. 272 There is a saying ‘married in the veal bones always a calf’. |
| ? 1556 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees, 1835) 153 To Thomas morison..for ij *veale calves. 1895 Boston Herald 21 March 5/6 Colored leather is firmer and selling more freely: Grain, 12 {at} 14c; veal calf, 16 {at} 18½c. 1946 F. H. Garner Brit. Dairying xi. 228 Veal calves demand much milk when being reared. 1981 Times 25 July 3/2 Veal calves are penned in tight crates on liquid feeds throughout their lives. |
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 469 The *veal-farmers keep from 6 to 12 cows each. 1822–7 *Veal-like [see veal-skin below]. 1897 W. Anderson Surg. Treat. Lupus 7 An unwholesome, veal-like whiteness, diversified by tiny blood-vessels. |
| 1684 Manley Cowell's Interpreter s.v., *Veale money or Veale noble money. The Tenants of one of the Tythings within the Mannor of Bradford in Wiltshire, pay a yearly Rent by this name..in lieu of veale paid formerly in kind. |
| 1963 R. Carrier Gt. Dishes of World ix. 161 *Veal parmigiana. 1972 [see linguine]. 1983 C. McCarry Last Supper iv. i. 184 He..ordered veal parmigiana..crusty veal with its rubbery slab of strange white cheese covered with tomato sauce. |
| 1973 *Veal piccata [see prime a. 4 a]. 1982 J. D. MacDonald Cinnamon Skin xvii. 172 The veal piccata..went well with the Valpolicella. |
| 1591 Exch. Rolls Scotl. XXII. 171 [10s. of certain] barkit *weillskynnis. 1822–7 Good Study Med. (1829) V. 694 Epichrosis Leucasmus. Veal-Skin... This is the vitiligo or veal-skin of Willan, so called from the veal-like appearance which these spots produce on the general colour of the surface. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Veal-skins, an Irish trade-name for hides of the calf, which are dearer than other leather. |
Hence
veal v. trans., to rear (calves) for use as veal;
ˈvealer, a calf intended or fit for veal.
| 1901– in American dicts. 1931 Daily News-Journal (Murfreesboro, Tennessee) 17 Apr. 4/1 Better grade vealers around 50c higher. 1977 West Briton 25 Aug. 11/1 Calves—vealers to {pstlg}26. 1984 Grass Roots (N.Z.) Feb. 13/1 We have been developing a thriving vealer mini project on 25 acres at Neerim South in West Gippsland, Victoria. |
▪ II. veal, n.2 Sc. Mining.
(See
quots.)
| 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-M. 269 Veal, a tank or water-barrel placed upon a cage for emptying the sump. 1886 J. Barrowman Sc. Mining Terms 69 Veal, or voun, a water box or chest, usually on wheels, for removing water. |