dinner

A1 Topic:Food & Drink

US /ˈdɪnɚ/ UK /ˈdɪnə/ See IPA manual

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

Appears in

Phrases (10)

See all

family dinner
a meal shared by family members, usually at home

Adjective + noun
cook dinner
to prepare the evening meal using heat

Verb + noun
have dinner
to eat the evening meal

Verb + noun
make dinner
to prepare and put together the evening meal

Verb + noun
dinner party
a social occasion at someone's home centered on a meal

Adjective + noun
serve dinner
to bring food to people at a table or at a formal event

Verb + noun

Simplified etymology

Dinner entered Middle English from Old French desjeuner, meaning “have breakfast,” and shares its origin with dine. Its deeper root denoted fasting and goes back to Latin jejunus “fasting” or “barren.”

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

External links

# dinner

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun
**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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