late 14c., "calf meat as food," from Anglo-French vel, Old French veel "a calf" (12c., Modern French veau), earlier vedel, from Latin vitellus "a little calf," diminutive of vitulus "calf," perhaps originally "yearling," if related, as some think, to Sanskrit vatsah "calf," literally "yearling;" Gothic wiþrus, Old English weðer (see wether; also see veteran).
early 15c., from Old French velin "parchment made from calfskin" (13c.), from vel, veel "calf" (see veal).
"edible viscera of animals, entrails of a deer," c. 1300, noumbles, from Old French nombles "loin of veal, fillet of beef, haunch of venison," from Latin lumulus, diminutive of lumbus "loin" (see lumbo-).
veal cutlet (especially short for Wiener schnitzel, the style served in Vienna), 1854, from German Schnitzel "cutlet," literally "a slice," with -el, diminutive suffix + Schnitz "a cut, slice" from schnitzen "to carve," frequentative of schneiden "to cut," from Old High German snidan, from Proto-Germanic *sneithanan (source also of Old English sniþan, Middle Dutch sniden, Old Frisian snida, -snitha). This is sometimes said to be from a PIE root *sneit- "to cut," but Boutkan gives no IE etymology and has it as "Likely to be a North European substratum etymon."
"jelly-like preparation in cookery," late 14c., from Old French blancmengier (13c.), literally "white eating," originally a dish of fowl minced with cream, rice, almonds, sugar, eggs, etc.; from blanc "white" (also used in Old French of white foods, such as eggs, cream, also white meats such as veal and chicken; see blank (adj.)) + mangier "to eat" (see manger). Attempts were made nativize it (Chaucer has blankemangere); French pronunciation is evident in 18c. variant blomange, and "the present spelling is a half attempt at restoring the French" [OED].
