Piecemeal means a bit at a time rather than all at once. Reform piecemeal, a piecemeal approach, sold off piecemeal.
It is nearly always a criticism, because it implies no plan holding the pieces together. The meal in it has nothing to do with food — it is an old word meaning at a time, and the pattern once made inchmeal and limbmeal as well.
1adverbpiecemealA bit at a time rather than all at once.
“Instead of rebuilding the house at once, they renovated it piecemeal as money allowed.”
piecemeal is a manner of doing.
Middle English pecemele is piece plus Old English maelum, at a time. The meal has nothing to do with food.
Old English
mǣlum — at a time
Middle English
pecemele
English, today
piecemeal
Built from
From Middle English pecemele, from pece (“piece”) + mele (from Old English mǣlum (“at a time”), dative plural form of mǣl (“time, measure”), taking the place of Old English styċċemǣlum (“in pieces, bit by bit, piecemeal; to pieces, to bits; here and there, in different places; little by little, by degrees, gradually”); equivalent to piece + -meal.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA