Etymograph

English

dinner

Dinner comes from Old French disner ‘to dine’, from Vulgar Latin *disiūnō ‘to break the fast’, from dis- + iēiūnō ‘to fast’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEieiūnus1‘fasting, hungry’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiēiūnō2‘to fast’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*disiūnō2‘to break the fast’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400disner2‘to dine; main meal of the day’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dyner2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1892dinner2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin ieiuno
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English dinner
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1892, Walter Besant, In the Office: “At twilight in the summer[…]the mice come out. They[…]eat…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEieiūnusWiktionary, Latin ieiuno‘fasting, hungry’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiēiūnōWiktionary, English dinner‘to fast’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*disiūnōWiktionary, English dinner‘to break the fast’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400disnerWiktionary, English dinner‘to dine; main meal of the day’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dynerWiktionary, English dinner
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1892dinnerWiktionary, English dinner. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1892, Walter Besant, In the Office: “At twilight in the summer[…]the mice come out. They[…]eat…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with dinner, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Old French disner ‘lunch”, but originally “breakfast’

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Today it means

noun The main meal of the day, often eaten in the evening.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dinner”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin ieiuno. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin ieiūnus / dinner