n.
- A flat piece of metal stamped with a design or an inscription commemorating an event or a person, often given as an award.
- A piece of metal stamped with a religious device, used as an object of veneration or commemoration.
v. Informal, -aled, also -alled, -al·ing, also -al·ling, -als, -als. v.intr.
To win a medal, as in a sports contest: "We were the first Americans to medal" (Jill Watson).
v.tr.
To award a medal to.
[French médaille, from Old French, from Italian medaglia, coin worth half a denarius, medal, from Vulgar Latin *medālia, coins worth half a denarius, from Late Latin mediālia, little halves, from neuter pl. of mediālis, of the middle, medial. See medial.]
medallic me·dal'lic (mə-dăl'ĭk) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
