Dinner
Pronunciation au
- UK IPA: /ˈdɪnə(ɹ)/
- US enPR: dÄnʹər, IPA: /ˈdɪnÉš/
- Rhymes: -ɪnə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: din + ner
Origin
From Old French disner ("lunchâ€, but originally “breakfast"), from Latin dis- + iÄ“iÅ«nÅ ("to break the fast").
Full definition of dinner
Noun
dinner
(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.
- 1897, w, The Celebrity Chapter 1, When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.
- 1927, F. E. Penny, Pulling the Strings Chapter 4, Soon after the arrival of Mrs. Campbell, dinner was announced by Abboye. He came into the drawing room resplendent in his gold-and-white turban. … His cummerbund matched the turban in gold lines.
- (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.