Cornmeal is a meal (coarse flour) ground from dried maize (corn). It is a common staple food, and is ground to fine, medium, and coarse consistencies, but not as fine as wheat flour. In the United States, very finely ground cornmeal is also referred to as corn flour. However, the word corn flour denotes cornstarch in the United Kingdom, where cornmeal is known as polenta and finely ground corn flour (for making bread or tortillas) is known as maize flour. While cornmeal has various application or names among the world, for instance, in Southern Africa it is called Ugali, isitshwala or bogobe in Botswana or sadza in Zimbabwe, nshima in Zambia, nsima in Malawi, chima in Mozambique, and "Oshifima" or Pap in Namibia. Fufu from West and Central Africa, may also be made from maize meal. In the Caribbean, similar dishes are cou-cou (Barbados), funchi (Curaçao) and funjie (Virgin Islands).

Ugali (also sometimes called sima, sembe or posho) is a dish of maize flour (cornmeal) cooked with water to a porridge- or dough-like consistency. It is the most common staple starch featured in the local cuisines of the eastern African Great Lakes region and Southern Africa.