lunch

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A light meal usually eaten around midday, notably when not as main meal of the day.
2. (countable, uncountable) A break in play between the first and second sessions.
3. (US, countable, uncountable) Any small meal, especially one eaten at a social gathering.
4. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) A thin piece or hunk (of bread, meat, etc.)

Verb

1. (intransitive) To eat lunch.
2. (transitive) To treat to lunch.

Synonyms

midday meal

luncheon

dinner

breakfast

meal

tiffin

snack

dejeuner

brunch

dine

lunchtime

main meal

noon

🕛

picnic

light refreshments

food

🍽️

midday

feed

lurk

dinner

prandial

eat

🍽️

southwest

southwestward

supper

tea

🫖

dish

noon meal

diet

eat lunch

morning meal

brekker

have breakfast

light meal

groceries

cook

🧑‍🍳

Translations

déjeuner

Mittagessen

almuerzo

pranzo

almoço

comida

🍽️

dinar

lunch

γεύμα

middageten

dîner

pranzare

almorzar

seconda colazione

Pronounced as (IPA)

/lʌnt͡ʃ/

Etymology

Cognate with Spanish: lonja

In summary

Recorded since 1580 in the sense “piece, hunk”. The word luncheon with the same meaning is presumably an extension on the pattern of puncheon (“cask”) and truncheon (“cudgel”). But earliest found forms include lunshin and lunching, which are equivalent to lunch + -ing, with the suffix -ing possibly later modified to imitate a French origin.
The sense “light meal” is first attested for luncheon in 1652 and for lunch in 1829, so in this sense the latter is probably a shortening of the former.
Lunch is possibly a derivative of lump (as hunch is from hump. See hunch for more), or represents an alteration of nuncheon, from Middle English nonechenche (“light midday meal”) (see nuncheon) and altered by northern English dialect lunch (“hunk of bread or cheese”) (1590), which perhaps is from lump or from Spanish lonja (“a slice”, literally “loin”).

Sentences

A lunch menu is also served .