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lunch

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Lunch

English

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Etymology

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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”).[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lunch (countable and uncountable, plural lunches)

  2. A light meal usually eaten around midday, notably when not as main meal of the day.
  3. (cricket) A break in play between the first and second sessions.
  4. (Minnesota, US) 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.
    • 1908, L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables:
      “Oh, you mustn’t dream of going home without your tea,” cried Anne in distress. “I’ll get it right off—I’ll go and put the tea down this very minute.” “I must go home,” repeated Diana, stupidly but determinedly. “Let me get you a lunch anyhow,” implored Anne. “Let me give you a bit of fruit-cake and some of the cherry preserves. […]”
  5. (obsolete) A thin piece or hunk (of bread, meat, etc.)

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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Descendants

Translations

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Verb

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lunch (third-person singular simple present lunches, present participle lunching, simple past and past participle lunched)

  2. (intransitive) To eat lunch.
    I like to lunch in Italian restaurants.
    • 1909, Frank Sidgwick, Love and battles, page 291:
      The gentleman had left for London after lunch. Yes, alone; but he had lunched in the hotel with a lady.
    • 1934, Cole Porter, Miss Otis Regrets:
      Miss Otis regrets she's unable to lunch today.
    • 2026 September 7, Abby Norman, Cara Johnson, “How The Atomic Bombing Of Nagasaki Brought World War 2 To A Violent End”, in All That's Interesting‎[1], archived from the original on 9 September 2026:
      Yoshiro Yamawaki, who was 11 years old at the time, was just sitting down to lunch with his brothers when the bomb exploded.
  3. (transitive) To treat to lunch.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ “lunch, n.2.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2023.

Chinese

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From English lunch.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lunch

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) lunch (Classifier: 個／个 c; 餐 c)

Verb

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lunch

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to eat lunch; to have lunch
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Dutch

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English lunch.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /lʏnʃ/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: lunch

Noun

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lunch m (plural lunchen or lunches, diminutive lunchje n)

  1. a lunch, a meal eaten around noon

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Verb

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lunch

  1. inflection of lunchen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
    3. imperative

See also

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French

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Etymology

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From English lunch.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lunch m (plural lunchs)

  1. a lunch, (usually light) meal around noon
  2. a light meal with sandwiches, cold cuts, pastry etc. served at a festive reception

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

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    Unadapted borrowing from English lunch.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    lunch m inan

    1. lunch (meal around midday)

    Declension

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    Declension of lunch
    singular plural
    nominative lunch lunche
    genitive lunchu lunchów
    dative lunchowi lunchom
    accusative lunch lunche
    instrumental lunchem lunchami
    locative lunchu lunchach
    vocative lunchu lunche

    Further reading

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    • “lunch”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
    • “lunch”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[3] (in Polish)

    Spanish

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    Alternative forms

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    Etymology

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      Borrowed from English lunch.

      Pronunciation

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      • IPA(key): /ˈlont͡ʃ/ [ˈlõnʲt͡ʃ]
      • IPA(key): /ˈlant͡ʃ/ [ˈlãnʲt͡ʃ]
      • IPA(key): /ˈlunt͡ʃ/ [ˈlũnʲt͡ʃ]
      • Syllabification: lunch

      Noun

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      lunch m (plural lunches)

      1. lunch

      Further reading

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      Swedish

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      Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
      Wikipedia sv

      Etymology

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      From English lunch.

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      lunch c

      1. lunch, a meal eaten around noon
        Vad åt du till lunch?
        What did you have [eat] for lunch?

      Declension

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      Declension of lunch
      nominative genitive
      singular indefinite lunch lunchs
      definite lunchen lunchens
      plural indefinite luncher lunchers
      definite luncherna lunchernas
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      See also

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      References

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      Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=lunch&oldid=92953806"