lunch
nounEtymology
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 of luncheon include lunshin and lunching, which are equivalent to lunch + -ing, with the suffix -ing possibly later modified to imitate a French origin. In contrast, the more common 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”).
Definitions
A light meal usually eaten around midday, notably when not as main meal of the day.
- We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner.
A break in play between the first and second sessions.
Any small meal, especially one eaten at a social gathering.
- After the funeral there was a lunch for those who didn't go to the cemetery.
›+ 3 more definitionsshow fewer
A thin piece or hunk (of bread, meat, etc.)
To eat lunch.
- I like to lunch in Italian restaurants.
- The gentleman had left for London after lunch. Yes, alone; but he had lunched in the hotel with a lady.
- Miss Otis regrets she's unable to lunch today.
To treat to lunch.
- We dined him, we lunched him, we were photographed in his company by flashlight.
The neighborhood
- neighborluncheonette
- neighborbreakfast
- neighbordine
- neighbordinner
- neighborsupper
Derived
bag lunch, blunch, box lunch, brunch, business lunch, businessman's lunch, cut lunch, dairy lunch, do lunch, dry lunch, dunch, Dutch lunch, eat someone's lunch, free lunch, funch, launch lunch, launch one's lunch, linner, liquid lunch, little lunch, lose one's lunch, lunchable, lunch-and-learn, lunch box, lunch break, lunchbreak, lunch bucket, lunch counter, lunchee, luncheteria, lunchette, lunch hook, lunch hour, lunch kettle, lunch lady, lunchless, lunchline, lunchmaking, lunchmate, lunch meat · +37 more
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at lunch. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at lunch. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
5 hops · closes at lunch
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA