dinner

din·ner

A group of friends having dinner together.

noun

Dinner is defined as the largest meal of the day, often eaten in the evening after you have already had breakfast and lunch.

An example of dinner is when you go out to a restaurant at 7:00 PM and eat a meal.

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"dinner." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 May 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/DINNER>.

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dinner. (n.d.). Retrieved May 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/DINNER

dinner

the main meal of the day, whether eaten in the evening or about noon
a banquet in honor of some person or event
a complete meal at a set price with no course omitted; table d'hôte

Origin of dinner

Middle English diner from Old French disner, infinitive used as noun : see dine

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MLA Style

"dinner." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 May 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/DINNER>.

APA Style

dinner. (n.d.). Retrieved May 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/DINNER

dinner

noun

a. The chief meal of the day, eaten in the evening or at midday.
b. A banquet or formal meal in honor of a person or event.
c. The food prepared for either of these meals.
A full-course meal served at a fixed price; table d'hôte.

Origin of dinner

Middle English diner morning meal from Old French disner, diner to dine, morning meal ; see dine .

Word History: In Middle English dinner meant “breakfast,” as did the Old French word disner, or diner, which was the source of our word. The Old French word came from the Vulgar Latin word *disiūnāre, meaning “to break one's fast; that is, to eat one's first meal,” a notion also contained in our word breakfast. The Vulgar Latin word was derived from an earlier word, *disiēiūnāre, the Latin elements of which are dis-, denoting reversal, and iēiūnium, “fast.” Middle English diner not only meant “breakfast” but, echoing usage of the Old French word diner, more commonly meant “the first big meal of the day, usually eaten between 9 AM and noon.” Customs change, however, and over the years we have let the chief meal become the last meal of the day, by which time we have broken our fast more than once.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"dinner." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 May 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/DINNER>.

APA Style

dinner. (n.d.). Retrieved May 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/DINNER

Noun

(countable and uncountable, plural dinners)

A midday meal (in a context in which the evening meal is called supper or tea).
The main meal of the day, often eaten in the evening.
An evening meal.
A meal given to an animal.
Give the dog its dinner.
A formal meal for many people eaten for a special occasion.
(uncountable) The food provided or consumed at any such meal.

Usage notes

There are differences in usage according to the social class of the speaker. Working-class and lower-middle-class speakers in Britain, for example, are more likely to refer to the midday meal as "dinner" and the evening meal as "tea" rather than "supper". Some speakers use common collocations of dinner such as school dinner, Sunday dinner and Christmas dinner to describe meals that they wouldn't otherwise call a dinner.

Anagrams