lunch

See also: Lunch

English

Etymology

Recorded since 1580; presumably short for luncheon, but earliest found also as lunshin, lunching, equivalent to lunch +‎ -ing, with the suffix -ing later modified to simulate a French origin. 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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lʌnt͡ʃ/, /lʌnʃ/, [lʌ̃nt͡ʃ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌntʃ

Noun

lunch (countable and uncountable, plural lunches)

1. A light meal usually eaten around midday, notably when not as main meal of the day.
   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:

     We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner.

2. (cricket) A break in play between the first and second sessions.
3. (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.

Synonyms

• (midday meal): luncheon; nones (obsolete)

Derived terms

• brunch
• dunch
• linner
• liquid lunch
• little lunch
• lunch break
• lunch money
• lupper
• playlunch

 

Descendants

• Cantonese: lunch
• Dutch: lunch
• German: Lunch
• Norwegian Bokmål: lunsj
• Norwegian Nynorsk: lunsj
• Polish: lunch
• Portuguese: lanche
• Spanish: lonche
• Swedish: lunch
• Yiddish: לאָנטש‎ (lontsh)

Translations

meal around midday

• Afrikaans: middagete
• Albanian: drekë (sq) f, sillë (sq) f
• Arabic: غَدَاء‎ m (ḡadāʾ)

  Hijazi Arabic: غدا‎ m (ḡada)

• Armenian: լանչ (lančʿ), ճաշ (hy) (čaš)
• Aromanian: prãndzu
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܟܵܘܸܬܪܵܐ‎ m (kāwitrā)
• Asturian: comida (ast) f
• Azerbaijani: günorta yeməyi, nahar (az), abed (proscribed)
• Baluchi: چاشت‎ (cášt)
• Basque: bazkari (eu)
• Belarusian: абе́д m (abjéd), ланч m (lanč)
• Bengali: লাঞ্চ (lañc)
• Bikol Central: pangudto
• Breton: merenn (br) f
• Bulgarian: о́бед (bg) m (óbed), обя́д (bg) m (objád), лънч m (lǎnč)
• Burmese: နေ့လယ်စာ (my) (ne.laica)
• Catalan: dinar (ca) m
• Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵎⵎⵏⵙⵓ (mmnsu), ⵉⵎⴽⵍⵉ (imkli)
• Chickasaw: tabookoli
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 晏晝 (yue), 晏昼 (aan³ zau³)

  Mandarin: 午飯 (zh), 午饭 (zh) (wǔfàn), 午餐 (zh) (wǔcān)

• Czech: oběd (cs) m
• Danish: middagsmad, frokost (da) c
• Dutch: lunch (nl), middageten (nl) n, (licht) middagmaal n
• Esperanto: meztagmanĝaĵo, tagmanĝo, lunĉo
• Estonian: lõuna (et)
• Finnish: lounas (fi)
• French: déjeuner (fr) m, dîner (fr) m (Belgium, Cajun, Swiss and Canadian French, in which "déjeuner" means "breakfast"), lunch (fr) m (more specific)
• Friulian: gustà
• Galician: xantar (gl) m
• Georgian: ლანჩი (lanči), მეორე საუზმე (meore sauzme)
• German: Mittagessen (de) n, Lunch (de) m
• Gothic: 𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐍄𐍃 (undaurnimats)
• Greek: γεύμα (el) n (gévma), μεσημεριανό (el) n (mesimerianó)

  Ancient: δεῖπνον n (deîpnon) (early usage), ἄριστον n (áriston) (later usage)

• Hawaiian: ʻaina awakea
• Hebrew: אֲרוּחַת צָהֳרַיִם / ארוחת צהריים‎ (he) f (arukhát' tsohoráyim)
• Hindi: लंच (hi) m (lañc), दोपहर का खाना m (dophar kā khānā), नहार (hi) (nahār)
• Hungarian: ebéd (hu)
• Icelandic: hádegismatur (is) m, hádegisverður (is) m
• Ido: dejuno (io), dejuneto (io)
• Indonesian: makan siang (id)
• Ingush: марта (marta)
• Interlingua: prandio (ia)
• Inupiaq: aiḷiłiq, qitiqquutaq
• Irish: lón m
• Italian: pranzo (it) m, seconda colazione f
• Japanese: 昼食 (ja) (ちゅうしょく, chūshoku), 昼ご飯 (ja) (ひるごはん, hirugohan), 昼飯 (ja) (ひるめし, hirumeshi), 昼餉 (ひるげ, hiruge), ランチ (ja) (ranchi)
• Kabuverdianu: almosu, almose
• Kazakh: қонақасы (qonaqasy), түскі ас (kk) (tüskı as), түскі тамақ (tüskı tamaq), түстік (tüstık), түскілік (tüskılık)
• Khmer: អាហារថ្ងៃត្រង់ (ʼaahaa thngay trɑng), បាយថ្ងៃត្រង់ (baay thngay trɑng)
• Korean: 점심(點心) (ko) (jeomsim), 중식(中食) (ko) (jungsik)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: نانی نیوەڕۆ‎ (nanî nîwerro)

  Northern Kurdish: firavîn (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: түштөм (tüştöm), обед (obed)
• Ladin: marënda f
• Lao: ອາຫານທ່ຽງ (lo) (ʼā hān thīang)
• Latgalian: dīniškys f pl

• Latin: prandium n
• Latvian: pusdienas m
• Lithuanian: pietūs (lt) m
• Macedonian: ручек m (ruček)
• Malay: makan tengahari
• Maltese: ikla f
• Maori: tina
• Mazanderani: چاشت‎ (cašt)
• Middle English: dyner
• Mirandese: almuorço m
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: ленч (lyönch), хөнгөн зууш (höngön dzuush)

  Mongolian: ᠬᠥᠩᠭᠡᠨ
  ᠵᠠᠭᠤᠰᠢ (könggen ǰaɣusi)

• Mòcheno: vormes n
• Navajo: yistʼéí
• Norman: dénaïr m
• Northern Sami: lunša, gaskabiebmu
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lunsj (no) m

  Nynorsk: lunsj (no) m

• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: обѣдъ m (obědŭ)

• Oromo: laaqana
• Pashto: غرمنۍ‎ f (ǧarmanǝ́y)
• Pennsylvania German: Essschtick n
• Persian: ناهار‎ (fa) (nâhâr)
• Plautdietsch: Meddach n
• Polish: obiad (pl) m, lunch (pl) m
• Portuguese: almoço (pt) m
• Romanian: prânz (ro) n
• Romansch: gentar m
• Russian: обе́д (ru) m (obéd), второ́й за́втрак (ru) m (vtorój závtrak), ланч (ru) m (lanč), ленч (ru) m (lenč)
• Sanskrit: मध्याह्नभोजन n (madhyāhnabhojana)
• Scottish Gaelic: diathad f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ру́чак m, обед m

  Roman: rúčak (sh) m, obed m

• Sicilian: pranzu (scn) m
• Sindhi: مانجھاندو‎ (sd) m (manjhando)
• Slovak: obed (sk) m
• Slovene: kosilo (sl) n, obed m, južina f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: wobjed m

  Upper Sorbian: wobjed m

• Spanish: almuerzo (es) m (Latin America), comida (es) f (Spain), yanta (es) (archaic)
• Swedish: lunch (sv) c, middag (sv)
• Tagalog: tanghalian (tl)
• Tajik: ноҳор (nohor), хӯроки пешин (xüroki pešin), таоми пешин (taomi pešin)
• Thai: อาหารกลางวัน (aa-hǎan-glaang-wan), อาหารเที่ยง (aa-hǎan-tîiang), ข้าวเที่ยง (th) (kâao-tîiang), มื้อเที่ยง (mʉ́ʉ-tîiang), มื้อกลางวัน (mʉ́ʉ-glaang-wan), ข้าวกลางวัน (th) (kâao-glaang-wan), เพล (th) (peen) (ecclesiastical)
• Turkish: öğle yemeği (tr)
• Turkmen: günortanlyk, günortanlyk nahar
• Ukrainian: обі́д m (obíd), ланч m (lanč)
• Urdu: لنچ‎ m (lanc), دوپہر کا کھانا‎ m (dophar kā khānā)
• Uzbek: tushlik (uz), lench, ikkinchi nonushta, obed (uz)
• Venetian: disnar (vec)
• Vietnamese: bữa trưa, bữa ăn trưa
• Volapük: koled (vo)
• Walloon: dinner (wa) m, marinde (wa) f
• Welsh: cinio bach m
• Yiddish: װאַרעמעס‎ n (varemes), לאָנטש‎ m (lontsh) (US), מיטאָג‎ (yi) m (mitog)

cricket break

• Bengali: মধ্যাহ্ন বিরতি (moddhanno biroti)

Verb

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.

   • 1934, Cole Porter, Miss Otis Regrets

     Miss Otis regrets she's unable to lunch today.

   • 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.

3. (transitive) To treat to lunch.
   • 1906, H. G. Wells, The Future in America: A Search After Realities

     We dined him, we lunched him, we were photographed in his company by flashlight.

Derived terms

• lady who lunches
• luncher
• lunchroom

 

Related terms

• luncheonette

Translations

to eat lunch

• Albanian: drekoj (sq), silloj (sq)
• Aromanian: prãndzu
• Basque: bazkaldu (eu)
• Belarusian: абе́даць impf (abjédacʹ), паабе́даць pf (paabjédacʹ)
• Breton: merennañ (br)
• Bulgarian: обя́двам impf (objádvam)
• Catalan: dinar (ca)
• Chickasaw: tabookoli impa
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 食晏 (sik⁶ aan³)

  Mandarin: 吃午飯, 吃午饭 (chī wǔfàn)

• Czech: obědvat (cs)
• Dalmatian: disnur
• Danish: spise (da), spise (da) frokost (da)
• Dutch: middageten (nl), dineren (nl), lunchen (nl)
• Estonian: lõunastama
• Finnish: lounastaa (fi)
• French: déjeuner (fr), prendre déjeuner, luncher (fr) (more specific)
• Galician: xantar (gl) m
• German: zu Mittag essen, lunchen (de), soupieren (de)
• Greek: γευματίζω (el) (gevmatízo)

  Ancient: δεῖπνέω (deîpnéō) (early usage), ἄριστάω (áristáō) (later usage)

• Hungarian: ebédel (hu)
• Ido: dejunar (io)
• Interlingua: prander, lunchar
• Irish: lón a ithe
• Italian: pranzare (it)

• Japanese: 昼食をとる (chūshoku o toru)
• Kabuverdianu: almusa, almusá
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: نان خواردنی نیوەڕۆ‎ (nan xwardnî nîwerro)

• Latgalian: dīniškuot
• Latin: prandeō
• Latvian: pusdienot
• Lithuanian: pietauti
• Macedonian: ру́ча impf (rúča)
• Maori: tina
• Mirandese: almorçar
• Mongolian: өдрийн хоол идэх (ödriyn hool ideh), ᠡᠳᠦᠷ ᠦᠨ
  ᠬᠣᠭᠤᠯᠠ
  ᠢᠳᠡᠬᠦ (edür-ün qoɣula idekü)
• Polish: jeść obiad impf
• Portuguese: almoçar (pt)
• Romanian: prânzi (ro)
• Russian: обе́дать (ru) impf (obédatʹ), пообе́дать (ru) pf (poobédatʹ)
• Slovak: obedovať impf
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: wobjedowaś impf

• Spanish: almorzar (es)
• Swedish: äta lunch, luncha (sv)
• Tagalog: tanghalian (tl)
• Ukrainian: обі́дати impf (obídaty), пообі́дати pf (poobídaty)
• Vietnamese: ăn trưa
• Volapük: koledön (vo)
• Walloon: dinner (wa), mareder (wa), nonner (wa)

See also

• breakfast
• dine, dinner
• supper

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Chinese

Etymology

From English lunch.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lan¹ cyu⁴, lan¹ cyu²

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: lan¹ cyu⁴, lan¹ cyu²
    • Yale: lān chyùh, lān chyú
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lan¹ tsy⁴, lan¹ tsy²
    • Guangdong Romanization: len¹ qu⁴, len¹ qu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɐn⁵⁵ t͡ʃʰyː²¹/, /lɐn⁵⁵ t͡ʃʰyː³⁵/

Noun

lunch

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

Verb

lunch

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

Alternative forms

• lung廚 (lan1 cyu4, “lunch”)

Related terms

• dinner
• 癲拿 (din1 naa4, “dinner”)

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English lunch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lʏnʃ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lunch

Noun

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

1. A lunch, a meal eaten around noon

Synonyms

• middageten n

Derived terms

• lunchen (verb)
• lunchtafel m or f
• lunchtijd m
• lunchuur n

Related terms

• brunchen (verb)
• lunchroom

Verb

lunch

1. first-person singular present indicative of lunchen
2. imperative of lunchen

See also

• maaltijd
• ontbijt

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French

Etymology

From English lunch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lœ̃ʃ/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

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

• luncher (verb)

Further reading

• “lunch”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English lunch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lant͡ʂ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ant͡ʂ
• Syllabification: lunch

Noun

lunch m inan

1. lunch (meal around midday)

Declension

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

• lunch in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• lunch in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English lunch.

Noun

lunch m (plural lunches)

1. lunch

Further reading

• “lunch”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

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Swedish

Etymology

From English lunch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɵnɧ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɵnɧ

Noun

lunch c

1. a lunch, a meal eaten about noon

Declension

Declension of lunch
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	lunch	lunchen	luncher	luncherna
Genitive	lunchs	lunchens	lunchers	lunchernas

Related terms

• dagens lunch
• luncha
• lunchbar
• lunchbord
• lunchbox
• lunchbricka
• lunchdags
• lunchgäst
• lunchkonsert
• lunchkorg
• lunchkupong
• lunchpaus
• lunchrast
• lunchrestaurang
• lunchrum
• lunchrusning
• lunchrätt
• lunchservering
• lunchställe
• lunchstängd
• lunchtid

 

See also

• middag

References

• lunch in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)