Merriam-Webster's word of the day is
inchmeal
pronounced INCH-meel
an adverb meaning
little by little; gradually
The origin of inchmeal is simple:
inch is obviously the unit of measurement
meal is a suffix meaning "by a (specified) portion or measure at a time"
The meal part of the word is related to the modern German word mal, meaning "time" as in (how many times) also found in the German word manchmal, meaning "sometimes."
(taken from Merriam-Webster)
To see it in context or listen to the pronunciation, check the link: https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day (June 12, 2023)
