dinner

A1 Topic:Food & Drink

US /ˈdɪnɚ/ UK /ˈdɪnə/ See IPA manual

noun verb Freq #550

Meanings

1

noun
The main meal of the day, usually eaten in the evening.

We usually have dinner at seven o'clock.
2

noun
A formal meal arranged for a special occasion.

They held a dinner to celebrate the company's anniversary.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the main meal of the day,... supper tea

2 noun · a formal meal arranged for... banquet feast

Word family

Forms dinners

Derived forms after-dinnerbedinnerbrinnerdinner-carddinner-goerdinner-hourdinner-jacketeddinner-partydinner-tabledinner-timedinnerettedinnerless

Related forms deipnophobiadine

Common collocations

Etymology

From Middle English dyner, from Old French disner (“lunch”, but originally “breakfast”), (modern French dîner), from Vulgar Latin *disiūnō, *disiūnāre from Latin dis- + iēiūnō (“to break the fast”).

*h₁yaǵ- Proto-Indo-European dyner Middle English disner Old French *disiūnō la-vul dis- Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Food & Drink Register & Style

# dinner

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** ˈdɪnɚ
**IPA (UK):** ˈdɪnə
**Frequency rank:** 550

## Meanings
1. The main meal of the day, usually eaten in the evening.
2. A formal meal arranged for a special occasion.

## Examples
- We usually have dinner at seven o'clock.
- They held a dinner to celebrate the company's anniversary.

## Derived Forms
- after-dinner
- bedinner
- brinner
- dinner-card
- dinner-goer
- dinner-hour
- dinner-jacketed
- dinner-party
- dinner-table
- dinner-time
- dinnerette
- dinnerless

## Related Forms
- deipnophobia
- dine

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *h₁yaǵ-
- Root: dyner
- Root: disner
- Root: *disiūnō
- Root: dis-

## Etymology
From Middle English dyner, from Old French disner (“lunch”, but originally “breakfast”), (modern French dîner), from Vulgar Latin *disiūnō, *disiūnāre from Latin dis- + iēiūnō (“to break the fast”).

## AI Etymology
dinner comes from Middle English dyner, from Old French disner (“lunch”, but originally “breakfast”), (modern French dîner), from Vulgar Latin *disiūnō, *disiūnāre from Latin dis- + iēiūnō (“to break the fast”). The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *h₁yaǵ-, Middle English dyner, Old French disner, la-vul *disiūnō, Latin dis-. Current senses include The main meal of the day, usually eaten in the evening and A formal meal arranged for a special occasion. English relatives and later formations include after-dinner, bedinner, brinner, deipnophobia, dine.

## Topics
- Food & Drink
- Register & Style

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dinner

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