lunch

See also: Lunch

English

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /lʌnt͡ʃ/, /lʌnʃ/, [lʌ̃nt͡ʃ]

• Audio (Received Pronunciation):

  (file)

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌntʃ

Noun

lunch (countable and uncountable, plural lunches)

2. 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:

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

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

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

Derived terms

• 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
• 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
• lunch money
• lunch pail
• lunch pail Democrat
• lunchtime
• lunch-time
• lunchwards
• lunchware
• lunner
• lupper
• no free lunch theorem
• out to lunch
• pack a lunch
• packed lunch
• pack lunch
• plate lunch
• playlunch
• ploughman's lunch
• plowman's lunch
• postlunch
• power lunch
• prelunch
• sack lunch
• split lunch
• there ain't no such thing as a free lunch
• there is no free lunch
• there is no such thing as a free lunch
• there's no such thing as a free lunch
• three-martini lunch
• walk after lunch
• working lunch

Descendants

Descendants

• → Bengali: লাঞ্চ (lanco)
• → Cantonese: lunch
• → Dutch: lunch
• → French: lunch
• → German: Lunch
• → Japanese: ランチ (ranchi)
• → Korean: 런치 (reonchi)
• → Norwegian Bokmål: lunsj
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: lunsj
• → Polish: lunch
• → Portuguese: lanche
• → Russian: ланч (lanč), ленч (lenč)
• → Spanish: lonche
• → Swedish: lunch
• → Ukrainian: ланч (lanč)
• → Yiddish: לאָנטש (lontsh)

Translations

meal around midday

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

  Gulf Arabic: غدا m (ḡada)

  Hijazi Arabic: غدا m (ḡada)

  South Levantine Arabic: غدا m (ḡada)

• Armenian: լանչ (lančʻ), ճաշ (hy) (čaš)
• Aromanian: prãndzu
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܟܵܘܸܬܪܵܐ m (kāwitrā)
• Asturian: comida (ast) f
• Azerbaijani: günorta yeməyi, nahar (az)
• Baluchi: چاشت (cášt)
• Basque: bazkari (eu)
• Belarusian: абе́д m (abjéd), ланч m (lanč)
• Bengali: লাঞ্চ (bn) (lanco)
• 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
• Cebuano: paniudto
• Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵎⵎⵏⵙⵓ (mmnsu), ⵉⵎⴽⵍⵉ (imkli)
• Chickasaw: tabookoli
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 晏晝 / 晏昼 (yue) (aan³ zau³)

  Mandarin: 午飯 / 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), grand déjeuner m (neologism, rare), grand-déjeuner m (neologism, rare)
• 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 צׇהֳרַיִם (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)
• Ingrian: lounat
• Ingush: марта (marta)
• Interlingua: prandio (ia), lunch
• 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 (ja) (ひるげ, hiruge), ランチ (ja) (ranchi)
• Kabuverdianu: almosu, almose
• Kazakh: қонақасы (qonaqasy), түскі ас (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), 점심(點心)밥 (ko) (jeomsimbap), 점심(點心) 식사 (ko) (jeomsim siksa), 중식(中食) (ko) (jungsik) (dated, formal, literary), 오반(午飯) (oban), 주식(晝食) (ko) (jusik), 런치 (reonchi) (phonetic loan, informal)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: نانی نیوەڕۆ (nanî nîwerro), فراوین (firawîn)

  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 (mk) m (ruček)
• Malay: makan tengahari
• Maltese: ikla f
• Maori: tina
• Mazanderani: چاشت (cašt)
• Middle English: dyner
• Mirandese: almuorço m
• Mòcheno: vormes n
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: ленч (lenč), хөнгөн зууш (xöngön zuuš)

  Mongolian: ᠬᠥᠩᠭᠡᠨ
  ᠵᠠᠭᠤᠰᠢ (könggen ǰaɣusi)

• Navajo: yistʼé
• Norman: dénaïr m
• Northern Sami: lunša, gaskabiebmu
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lunsj (no) m

  Nynorsk: lunsj (no) m

• Occitan: dinnar (oc) m
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: обѣдъ m (obědŭ)

• Old English: nōnmete m, undernmete m
• Oromo: laaqana
• Pashto: غرمنۍ f (ǧarmanǝ́y)
• Pennsylvania German: Essschtick n
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: ناهار (fa) (nâhâr)

• Plautdietsch: Meddach n
• Polish: obiad (pl) m, lunch (pl) m
• Portuguese: almoço (pt) m, (Portugal, neologism, rare) grande-almoço m
• Romanian: prânz (ro) n, dejun (ro) n, (neologism, rare) mare dejun 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)
• Sardinian: marèndha f, bústu m, pràgnu m
• 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) (dialectal), lonche (es) m (Latin America), lonch m (Latin America), lunch m (Americas)
• Swedish: lunch (sv) c, middag (sv)
• Tagalog: tanghalian (tl)
• Tajik: ноҳор (nohor), хӯроки пешин (xürok-i pešin), таоми пешин (taom-i pešin)
• Tarifit: amešri m
• 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: ظُہْرانَہ m (zuhrāna) لَنْچ m (lanc), دوپَہَر کا کھانا m (dopahar kā khānā)
• Uzbek: tushlik (uz), lench, ikkinchi nonushta, obed (uz)
• Venetan: 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.

   • 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.

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
• lunch in
• lunch out
• 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)
• Ingrian: lounattaissa
• Interlingua: prander, lunchar
• Irish: lón a ithe
• Italian: pranzare (it)
• Japanese: 昼食をとる (chūshoku o toru)
• Kabuverdianu: almusa, almusá
• Korean: 점심(點心)을 먹다 (jeomsim-eul meokda), 점심(點心)밥을 먹다 (jeomsimbab-eul meokda) (more formal), 점심 식사(點心食事)를 하다 (jeomsim siksa-reul hada) (more formal), 점심(點心)을 드시다 (jeomsim-eul deusida) (honorific), 점심(點心)을 잡수시다 (jeomsim-eul japsusida) (more honorific), 점심(點心)밥을 잡수시다 (jeomsimbab-eul japsusida) (more formal, more honorific), 점심 식사(點心食事)를 하시다 (jeomsim siksa-reul hasida) (more formal, honorific), 점심(點心)밥을 드시다 (jeomsimbab-eul deusida) (more formal, honorific), 점심 식사(點心食事)를 드시다 (jeomsim siksa-reul deusida) (more formal, honorific)
• 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 (ödriin xool idex), 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)
• Sardinian: bustàre, pràndhede/pràndhere
• Slovak: obedovať impf
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: wobjedowaś impf

• Spanish: almorzar (es), lonchear (es) (Latin America), lonchar (Americas)
• 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

Chinese

Alternative forms

• lung廚 / lung厨 (lan1 cyu4, “lunch”)

Etymology

From English lunch.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lan¹ cyu⁴ / lan¹ cyu²

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • 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 t͡sʰyː²¹/, /lɐn⁵⁵ t͡sʰyː³⁵/

Noun

lunch

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

Verb

lunch

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

Related terms

• dinner

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

See also

• maaltijd
• ontbijt

French

Etymology

From English lunch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lœ̃ʃ/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (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.

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English lunch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlant͡ʂ/

• 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

Spanish

Alternative forms

• lonche

Etymology

Borrowed from English lunch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlont͡ʃ/ [ˈlõnʲt͡ʃ]
  • Rhymes: -ontʃ
• IPA^(key): /ˈlant͡ʃ/ [ˈlãnʲt͡ʃ]
  • Rhymes: -antʃ
• IPA^(key): /ˈlunt͡ʃ/ [ˈlũnʲt͡ʃ]
  • Rhymes: -untʃ
• Syllabification: lunch

Noun

lunch m (plural lunches)

1. lunch

Further reading

• “lunch”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Swedish

Etymology

From English lunch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɵnɧ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɵnɧ

Noun

lunch c

1. lunch, a meal eaten around noon

   Vad åt du till lunch?

   What did you have [eat] for lunch?

Declension

Declension of [Term?]

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	lunch	lunchs
	definite	lunchen	lunchens
plural	indefinite	luncher	lunchers
	definite	luncherna	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

• frukost (“breakfast”)
• kvällsmat (“supper, evening meal”)
• mat (“food”)
• mellanmål (“snack (between meals)”)
• middag (“dinner”)
• måltid (“meal”)

References

• lunch in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• lunch in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• lunch in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)