Dinner Meaning
/ˈdɪnə/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe main meal of the day, often eaten in the evening.
nounAn evening meal.
Sentence Examples
During summer breaks, I ate dinner at midnight.
You can't be hungry. You've just had dinner.
Will you have dinner with me tonight?
CEFR Practice Quiz
We always eat a large ____ together at seven o'clock every evening.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
During summer breaks, I ate ____ at midnight.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"1993, Mark Berry as "King Harkinian", a character in Animation Magic, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, Philips Interactive Media (publ.).
I wonder what's for dinner."
—
"At twilight in the summer[…]the mice come out. They[…]eat the luncheon crumbs. Mr. Checkley, for instance, always brought his dinner in a paper parcel in his coat-tail pocket, and ate it when so disposed, sprinkling crumbs lavishly[…]on the floor."
— 1892, Walter Besant, “In the Office”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 45:
"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."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 2:
"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."
— 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings:
"Once I was geared up, I joined him on the wide, flat seat of the sled which was loaded up with hot food for the jacks who were dinnering out since they worked a forty far from the camp."
— 2014, Caroline Akervik, chapter 6, in White Pine, White Bear Lake, MN: Melange Books, page 57:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
We always eat a large ____ together at seven o'clock every evening.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
During summer breaks, I ate ____ at midnight.