What does "victual" mean?
Food fit for human (or occasionally animal) consumption.
Victual
/ˈvɪtəl/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Food fit for human (or occasionally animal) consumption.
- Grammar: victual is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: cater, coal, comestible, eatable.
- Useful contrasts: dearth, deprive, famine.
- Usage evidence: On a day out, walking about, a sandwich is a fine victual.
How to use "victual"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "victual" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "victual" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "victual" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "victual" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "victual" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "cater" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "victual", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Food fit for human (or occasionally animal) consumption. archaic
"Shift bore (for il aire) as best ye do thinke, / and twise a day giue him fresh vittle and drinke: […]"
- 2 any substance that can be used as food wordnet
- 3 Food supplies; provisions. archaic, in-plural
"It is good to make prouiſion, for peraduenture wee ſhall lacke victuals and wee lie in campe on Blacke Heath long."
- 4 Edible plants. obsolete, specifically
"[C]onſider, what Victuall or Eſculent Things there are, which grow ſpeedily, and within the yeere, As Parſnips, Carrets, Turnips, Onions, Radiſh, Artichokes of Hieruſalem, Maiz, and the like. […] The Victuall in Plantations, ought to be expanded, almoſt as in a Beſieged Towne; That is, with certaine Allowance."
- 5 Grain of any kind. Scotland, obsolete, specifically
"But if the beast and branks be spar'd / Till kye be gaun without the herd, / An' a' the vittel in the yard, / An' theckit right, / I mean your ingle-side to guard / Ae winter night."
Verb
- 1 To provide (military troops, a place, a ship, etc., or oneself) with a stock of victuals or food; to provision. archaic, reflexive, transitive
"[T]hy louing voyage / Is but for two moneths victuall’d: […]"
- 2 take in nourishment wordnet
- 3 To lay in or procure food supplies. archaic, intransitive
"[Letter from Sir William Drury to Sir William Cecil, 3d April 1568 (Julian calendar).] The Lord Fleming [i.e., John Fleming, 5th Lord Fleming], notwithstanding he still victualleth and maketh provision, he hath offered three personages of as great livehood as himself to enter caution and surety unto the [James Stewart, 1st] Earl of Moray, that he shall only hold the place at the devotion and service of the young King, and to no other."
- 4 lay in provisions wordnet
- 5 To eat. archaic, intransitive
"I have Drank and Victual’d at Sir Humphrey’s for a Months Famine I am to endure here—I am hung round with Bottles and ſtuft full of Proviſion; will you eat a Pullet?"
Show 1 more definition
- 6 supply with food wordnet
Antonyms
Example
"On a day out, walking about, a sandwich is a fine victual."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "victual"?
Common synonyms include: cater, coal, comestible, eatable, edible, edibles.
How do you use "victual" in a sentence?
On a day out, walking about, a sandwich is a fine victual.
How do you pronounce "victual"?
Pronounced /ˈvɪtəl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English vitaile, vitaylle (“food; food and drink, especially as needed for sustenance; (usually in the plural) food and drink stores or supplies; rations; provision of food and drink as a military stipend; crops”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman vitaile, vitaille [and other forms] and Old French vitaile, vitaille, victaille (“food, provisions, victuals”) [and other forms] (modern French victuaille), from Late Latin vīctuālia, the neuter plural of vīctuālis (“nutritional”), from Latin vīctus (“that which sustains life, diet, nourishment, provision”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns). Vīctus is derived from vīvō (“to live; to be alive, survive; to reside in”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”)) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs). The spelling of the modern English and French words has been influenced by Late Latin vīctuālia, though the pronunciation of the Middle English, Anglo-Norman, and Middle French words has been retained.
Etymology 2
From Middle English vitailen (“to provide (someone, a castle, a ship, etc., or oneself) with supplies of food, drink, or other needs; (figuratively) to load (a ship with troops and materiel); to fortify, nourish”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman vitailer, vitailler, and Old French vitailler, victuailler [and other forms], from vitaile, vitaille, victaille (“food, provisions, victuals”) (see further at etymology 1) + -er (a variant of -ier (suffix forming infinitives of first conjugation verbs)).