Dinner

Dinner usually refers to what is in many Western cultures the largest and most formal meal of the day, which some Westerners eat in the evening.

Historically the largest meal used to be eaten around midday, and called dinner.[1] In Western cultures, especially among the elite, it

gradually migrated later in the day over the 16th to 19th centuries.[2] However, the word “dinner” can have different meanings depending on culture, and may mean a meal of any size eaten at any time of day.[3] In particular, it is still sometimes used for

a meal at noon or in the early afternoon on special occasions, such as a Christmas dinner.[2] In hot climates, people have always tended to eat the main meal in the evening, after the temperature has fallen.

The word is from the Old French (c. 1300) disner, meaning “dine”, from the stem of Gallo-Romance desjunare (“to break one’s fast”), from Latin dis- (which indicates the opposite of an action) + Late Latin ieiunare (“to fast”), from Latin ieiunus (“fasting, hungry”).[4][5] The

Romanian word dejun and the French déjeuner retain this etymology and to some extent the meaning (whereas the Spanish word desayuno and Portuguese desjejum are related but are exclusively used for breakfast). Eventually, the term shifted to referring to the heavy main meal of the day, even if it had been preceded by a breakfast meal (or even both breakfast and lunch).