Phrase guide

main course

noun · 3 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

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The main serving or dish of a meal, usually cooked.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: main, main dish

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a square mainsail

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: mainsail

3

noun

Meaning 3

the principal dish of a meal

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: entree

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: course

Narrower terms: plate

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: hoofgereg — main dish of a meal
  • Bulgarian: основно ястие (osnovno jastie) — main dish of a meal
  • Bulgarian: основно блюдо (osnovno bljudo) — main dish of a meal
  • Chinese Mandarin: 主菜 (zhǔcài) — main dish of a meal
  • Danish: hovedret — main dish of a meal
  • Dutch: hoofdgerecht — main dish of a meal
  • Esperanto: ĉefmanĝo — main dish of a meal
  • Finnish: pääruoka — main dish of a meal
  • French: plat principal — main dish of a meal
  • French: plat de résistance — main dish of a meal
  • Georgian: მთავარი კერძი (mtavari ḳerʒi) — main dish of a meal
  • German: Hauptgericht — main dish of a meal
  • Greek: κύριο πιάτο (kýrio piáto) — main dish of a meal
  • Hungarian: főfogás — main dish of a meal
  • Hungarian: főétel — main dish of a meal
  • Icelandic: aðalréttur — main dish of a meal
  • Italian: portata principale — main dish of a meal
  • Japanese: メインコース (mein kōsu) — main dish of a meal
  • Japanese: メイン料理 (mein ryōri) — main dish of a meal
  • Korean: 메인 코스 (mein koseu) — main dish of a meal
  • Korean: 메인 요리 — main dish of a meal
  • Latin: summa cena — main dish of a meal
  • Māori: ōmatua — main dish of a meal
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hovedrett — main dish of a meal
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: hovudrett — main dish of a meal
  • Polish: danie główne — main dish of a meal
  • Polish: drugie danie — main dish of a meal
  • Portuguese: prato principal — main dish of a meal
  • Russian: второ́е блю́до (vtoróje bljúdo) — main dish of a meal
  • Serbo-Croatian: главно јело — main dish of a meal
  • Serbo-Croatian: glavno jelo — main dish of a meal
  • Lower Sorbian: głowna jěza — main dish of a meal
  • Lower Sorbian: głowna jěsć — main dish of a meal
  • Spanish: plato principal — main dish of a meal
  • Swedish: huvudrätt — main dish of a meal
  • Vietnamese: món chính — main dish of a meal