MEAT  , a word originally applied to

food in general, and so still used in such phrases as " meat and drink "; but now, except as an archaism, generally used of the flesh of certain domestic animals, slaughtered for human food by butchers, " butcher's meat," as opposed to " game," that of wild animals, " fish " or " poultry." Cognate forms of the O . Eng. mete are found in certain Teutonic languages, e.g . Swed. mat, Dan. mad and O . H . Ger . Mae . The ultimate origin has been disputed; the New English Dictionary considers probable a connexion with the root med-, " to he fat," seen in Sansk. meda, Lat. madere, " to be wet," and Eng . " mast," the fruit of the beech as food for pigs . See DIETETICS; FOOD PRESERVATION; PUBLIC HEALTH; AGRICULTURE; and the sections dealing with agricultural statistics under the names of the various countries .