Standard Lemma guide

dinner

noun · verb · 10 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈdɪnə/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: dĭnʹər
  • US: /ˈdɪnɚ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Caribbean: /ˈdɪnːa/
  • rhymes with -ɪnə(ɹ)
  • rhymes with -iːnə(ɹ)
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH1 N ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The main meal of the day, often eaten in the evening.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • I had an early dinner because the breakfast in this hostel is superb.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An evening meal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • I had some friends to dinner two nights ago.
  • Do I have to change for dinner?
  • We're about to start dinner. Phone again later.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A midday meal (in a context in which the evening meal is called supper or tea).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A meal given to an animal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • Give the dog its dinner.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A formal meal for many people eaten for a special occasion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • My family gathers twice a year, namely at Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

The food provided or consumed at any such meal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To eat a dinner; to dine.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

verb

Meaning 8

To provide (someone) with a dinner; to dine.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Examples

  • 1887, Caroline Emily Cameron, A Devout Lover, London: F.V. White & Co., Volume 1, Chapter 11, p. 181, She had taken her about to concerts and exhibitions—she had dinnered her at the Colonies, and suppered her at the New Club.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

the main meal of the day served in the evening or at midday

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • dinner will be at 8
  • on Sundays they had a large dinner when they returned from church

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: meal, repast

Narrower terms: high tea

10

noun

Meaning 10

a party of people assembled to have dinner together

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • guests should never be late to a dinner party

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dinner party

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: party

Narrower terms: banquet, feast, beanfeast

History

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”).

Across languages

Translations

268 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: aandete — evening meal
  • Afrikaans: middagmaal — evening meal
  • Afrikaans: dinee — evening meal
  • Albanian: darkë — evening meal
  • Arabic: عَشَاء (ʕašāʔ) — evening meal
  • Arabic: عشا (ʕaša) — evening meal
  • Arabic: عشا (ʕaša) — evening meal
  • Arabic: عشا (ʕaša) — evening meal
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܐ݇ܟ݂ܵܠ݇ܪܲܡܫܵܐ (ḳarāmša) — evening meal
  • Armenian: ճաշ (čaš) — evening meal
  • Aromanian: tsinã — evening meal
  • Azerbaijani: axşam yeməyi — evening meal
  • Azerbaijani: şam — evening meal
  • Basque: afari — evening meal
  • Belarusian: вячэ́ра (vjačéra) — evening meal
  • Bengali: হাজরি (hazri) — evening meal
  • Bengali: বড় হাজরি (bôṛô hazri) — evening meal
  • Bulgarian: вече́ря (večérja) — evening meal
  • Catalan: sopar — evening meal
  • Catalan: cena — evening meal
  • Chinese Cantonese: 晚飯 /晚饭 (maan5 faan6) — evening meal
  • Gan Chinese: 夜飯 /夜饭 — evening meal
  • Chinese Mandarin: 晚飯 /晚饭 (wǎnfàn) — evening meal
  • Chinese Mandarin: 晚餐 (wǎncān) — evening meal
  • Czech: večeře — evening meal
  • Danish: middag — evening meal
  • Danish: aftensmad — evening meal
  • Dutch: avondeten — evening meal
  • Dutch: avondmaaltijd — evening meal
  • Dutch: avondmaal — evening meal
  • Dutch: eten — evening meal
  • Esperanto: vespermanĝo — evening meal
  • Finnish: päivällinen — evening meal
  • Finnish: illallinen — evening meal
  • French: dîner — evening meal
  • French: souper (Cajun) — evening meal
  • Friulian: cene — evening meal
  • Galician: cea — evening meal
  • Georgian: სადილი (sadili) — evening meal
  • German: Abendessen — evening meal
  • German: Dinner — evening meal
  • Greek: δείπνο (deípno) — evening meal
  • Greek: βραδινό (vradinó) — evening meal
  • Greek: κύριο γεύμα (kýrio gévma) — evening meal
  • Ancient Greek: δόρπον (dórpon) — evening meal
  • Ancient Greek: δεῖπνον (deîpnon) — evening meal
  • Hawaiian: ʻaina ahiahi — evening meal
  • Hebrew: אֲרוּחַת עֶרֶב (arukhat erev) — evening meal
  • Hindi: रात का भोजन (rāt kā bhojan) — evening meal
  • Hindi: भोजन (bhojan) — evening meal
  • Hindi: भोज (bhoj) — evening meal
  • Hindi: खाना (khānā) — evening meal
  • Hungarian: vacsora — evening meal
  • Icelandic: kvöldmatur — evening meal
  • Ido: dineo — evening meal
  • Ingrian: iltain — evening meal
  • Irish: dinnéar — evening meal
  • Italian: cena — evening meal
  • Japanese: 夕食 (yūshoku) — evening meal
  • Javanese: mangan bengi — evening meal
  • Javanese: jinnair — evening meal
  • Korean: 저녁 (jeonyeok) — evening meal
  • Central Kurdish: شێو (şêw) — evening meal
  • Northern Kurdish: şîv — evening meal
  • Ladin: cëina — evening meal
  • Latgalian: vakareņis — evening meal
  • Latin: cēna — evening meal
  • Latvian: vakariņas — evening meal
  • Ligurian: çenn-a — evening meal
  • Lithuanian: vakarienė — evening meal
  • Lombard: zèna — evening meal
  • Macedonian: вечера (večera) — evening meal
  • Malay: makan malam — evening meal
  • Maltese: ċena — evening meal
  • Manx: jinnair — evening meal
  • Māori: hapa — evening meal
  • Middle English: soper — evening meal
  • Mòcheno: tschai' — evening meal
  • Mongolian: оройн хоол (orojn xool) — evening meal
  • Mongolian: оройн зоог (orojn zoog) — evening meal
  • Nahuatl: cochcayotl — evening meal
  • Navajo: eʼeʼáahgo daʼadánígíí — evening meal
  • Occitan: sopar — evening meal
  • Old English: middægþenung — evening meal
  • Oromo: irbaata — evening meal
  • Pashto: ماښامنۍ (mâẍâmanə́y) — evening meal
  • Iranian Persian: شام (šâm) — evening meal
  • Piedmontese: sin-a — evening meal
  • Plautdietsch: Owentkost — evening meal
  • Polish: obiad — evening meal
  • Polish: kolacja — evening meal
  • Portuguese: jantar — evening meal
  • Portuguese: janta — evening meal
  • Portuguese: ceia — evening meal
  • Romagnol: zéna — evening meal
  • Romanian: cină — evening meal
  • Romanian: masă de seară — evening meal
  • Romansh: tschaina — evening meal
  • Russian: у́жин (úžin) — evening meal
  • Northern Sami: mállásat — evening meal
  • Sardinian: chena — evening meal
  • Sardinian: cena — evening meal
  • Scottish Gaelic: dìnnear — evening meal
  • Serbo-Croatian: вѐчера — evening meal
  • Serbo-Croatian: vèčera — evening meal
  • Sicilian: cena — evening meal
  • Sidamo: hurbaate — evening meal
  • Slovak: večera — evening meal
  • Slovene: večerja — evening meal
  • Slovene: južina — evening meal
  • Lower Sorbian: wjacerja — evening meal
  • Upper Sorbian: wječer — evening meal
  • Spanish: cena — evening meal
  • Swedish: middag — evening meal
  • Tagalog: hapunan — evening meal
  • Tarifit: amensi — evening meal
  • Tocharian B: yesti — evening meal
  • Turkish: akşam yemeği — evening meal
  • Ukrainian: вече́ря (večérja) — evening meal
  • Vietnamese: bữa tối — evening meal
  • Walloon: soper — evening meal
  • Welsh: cinio — evening meal
  • Welsh: swper — evening meal
  • Wolaytta: kahuwa — evening meal
  • Yiddish: וועטשערע (vetshere) — evening meal
  • Yola: dineare — evening meal
  • Zazaki: şami (diq) — evening meal
  • Zazaki: sami (diq) — evening meal
  • Bashkir: аҙыҡ (aźıq) — a meal given to an animal
  • Bulgarian: хра́нене (hránene) — a meal given to an animal
  • Catalan: menjar — a meal given to an animal
  • Czech: žrádlo — a meal given to an animal
  • Czech: krmení — a meal given to an animal
  • Czech: šlichta — a meal given to an animal
  • Dutch: voer — a meal given to an animal
  • Finnish: ruoka — a meal given to an animal
  • German: Futter — a meal given to an animal
  • German: Fressen — a meal given to an animal
  • Greek: τροφή (trofí) — a meal given to an animal
  • Lithuanian: ėdalas — a meal given to an animal
  • Lithuanian: jovalas — a meal given to an animal
  • Mongolian: амьтны хоол (amʹtny xool) — a meal given to an animal
  • Nahuatl: tlemōlli īca yōlcatl — a meal given to an animal
  • Portuguese: ração — a meal given to an animal
  • Romanian: nutreț — a meal given to an animal
  • Russian: еда́ (jedá) — a meal given to an animal
  • Russian: корм (korm) — a meal given to an animal
  • Slovene: hrana — a meal given to an animal
  • Albanian: drekë — midday meal
  • Albanian: miesdit — midday meal
  • Arabic: غَدَاء (ḡadāʔ) — midday meal
  • Arabic: غدا (ġáda) — midday meal
  • Arabic: غدا (ġada) — midday meal
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܟܵܘܸܬܪܵܐ (kawitra) — midday meal
  • Armenian: ճաշ (čaš) — midday meal
  • Azerbaijani: nahar — midday meal
  • Azerbaijani: abed — midday meal
  • Azerbaijani: günorta yeməyi — midday meal
  • Bashkir: төшкө аш (töşkö aş) — midday meal
  • Belarusian: абе́д (abjéd) — midday meal
  • Bengali: হাজরি (hazri) — midday meal
  • Bengali: বড় হাজরি (bôṛô hazri) — midday meal
  • Bulgarian: о́бед (óbed) — midday meal
  • Catalan: dinar — midday meal
  • Gan Chinese: 昼飯 (jiu4 fan5) — midday meal
  • Chinese Mandarin: 午飯 /午饭 (wǔfàn) — midday meal
  • Chinese Mandarin: 午餐 (wǔcān) — midday meal
  • Czech: oběd — midday meal
  • Danish: middag — midday meal
  • Dutch: middageten — midday meal
  • Dutch: middagmaaltijd — midday meal
  • Dutch: middagmaal — midday meal
  • Dutch: lunch — midday meal
  • Finnish: lounas — midday meal
  • Finnish: päivällinen — midday meal
  • French: déjeuner — midday meal
  • French: dîner — midday meal
  • Galician: xantar — midday meal
  • Georgian: სადილი (sadili) — midday meal
  • German: Mittagessen — midday meal
  • Greek: γεύμα (gévma) — midday meal
  • Greek: μεσημεριανό (mesimerianó) — midday meal
  • Hebrew: אֲרוּחַת צׇהֳרַיִם (arukhát tsohoráyim) — midday meal
  • Hindi: दावत (dāvat) — midday meal
  • Hindi: भोजन (bhojan) — midday meal
  • Hindi: भोज (bhoj) — midday meal
  • Hindi: खाना (khānā) — midday meal
  • Hungarian: ebéd — midday meal
  • Irish: dinnéar — midday meal
  • Italian: pranzo — midday meal
  • Japanese: 昼食 (chūshoku) — midday meal
  • Japanese: 昼飯 (hirumeshi) — midday meal
  • Khmer: អាហារថ្ងៃត្រង់ (ʼaahaa thngay trɑng) — midday meal
  • Khmer: បាយថ្ងៃត្រង់ (baay thngay trɑng) — midday meal
  • Korean: 점심 (jeomsim) — midday meal
  • Latvian: pusdienas — midday meal
  • Lithuanian: pietūs — midday meal
  • Macedonian: ручек (ruček) — midday meal
  • Maltese: pranzu — midday meal
  • Māori: tina — midday meal
  • Middle English: dyner — midday meal
  • Mongolian: өдрийн хоол (ödriin xool) — midday meal
  • Mongolian: үдийн хоол (üdiin xool) — midday meal
  • Norwegian Bokmål: middag — midday meal
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: middag — midday meal
  • Occitan: dinnar — midday meal
  • Pannonian Rusyn: полудзенок (poludzenok) — midday meal
  • Polish: obiad — midday meal
  • Portuguese: almoço — midday meal
  • Romanian: prânz — midday meal
  • Romanian: masă de amiază — midday meal
  • Russian: обе́д (obéd) — midday meal
  • Serbo-Croatian: ручак — midday meal
  • Serbo-Croatian: обед — midday meal
  • Serbo-Croatian: ručak — midday meal
  • Serbo-Croatian: obed — midday meal
  • Slovak: obed — midday meal
  • Slovene: kosilo — midday meal
  • Slovene: obed — midday meal
  • Spanish: almuerzo — midday meal
  • Ukrainian: обі́д (obíd) — midday meal
  • Vietnamese: bữa chiều — midday meal
  • Vietnamese: bữa xế — midday meal
  • Welsh: cinio — midday meal
  • Armenian: ճաշ (čaš) — a formal meal
  • Bengali: হাজরি (hazri) — a formal meal
  • Bengali: বড় হাজরি (bôṛô hazri) — a formal meal
  • Bengali: দাওয়াত (daōẇat) — a formal meal
  • Bulgarian: банке́т (bankét) — a formal meal
  • Catalan: banquet — a formal meal
  • Chinese Mandarin: 正餐 (zhèngcān) — a formal meal
  • Czech: oběd — a formal meal
  • Czech: večeře — a formal meal
  • Dutch: diner — a formal meal
  • Finnish: illallinen — a formal meal
  • Finnish: päivällinen — a formal meal
  • Galician: xantar — a formal meal
  • German: Dinner — a formal meal
  • Greek: γεύμα (gévma) — a formal meal
  • Greek: δείπνο (deípno) — a formal meal
  • Hindi: दावत (dāvat) — a formal meal
  • Hindi: भोजन (bhojan) — a formal meal
  • Hindi: भोज (bhoj) — a formal meal
  • Irish: dinnéar — a formal meal
  • Japanese: 正餐 (seisan) — a formal meal
  • Japanese: 晩餐 (bansan) — a formal meal
  • Korean: 정찬 (jeongchan) — a formal meal
  • Korean: 만찬 (manchan) — a formal meal
  • Mongolian: цайллага (cajllaga) — a formal meal
  • Mongolian: дайллага (dajllaga) — a formal meal
  • Polish: bankiet — a formal meal
  • Portuguese: prândio — a formal meal
  • Portuguese: banquete — a formal meal
  • Romanian: banchet — a formal meal
  • Romanian: dineu — a formal meal
  • Russian: обе́д (obéd) — a formal meal
  • Russian: банке́т (bankét) — a formal meal
  • Russian: у́жин (úžin) — a formal meal
  • Slovene: večerja — a formal meal
  • Slovene: banket — a formal meal
  • Spanish: banquete — a formal meal
  • Urdu: عِشائِیَہ ('iśāiya) — a formal meal
  • French: diner — eat dinner
  • German: speisen — eat dinner
  • Hungarian: vacsorázik — eat dinner
  • Hungarian: megvacsorázik — eat dinner
  • Italian: cenare — eat dinner
  • Romanian: lua cina — eat dinner
Real reading context

dinner in complete knowledge articles