Dinner
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{{wiktionary}}{{Meals}}
[[image:Dinnermeal.jpg|left|thumb|right|An amount of formality may be present at a dinner]]
'''Dinner''' is the main meal of the day, eaten at midday or in the [[evening]]. The meal normally consists of a combination of cooked, or sometimes uncooked, proteins (meat, fish or legumes), with vegetables, and/or starch products like [[rice]], [[noodles]], or [[potatoes]].
The word "dinner" comes from the French word ''dîner'', the "chief [[meal|repast]] (Meal) of the day", ultimately from the [[Latin]] ''disiunare'', which means ''to break [[fast]]'' (as in the English word "[[breakfast]]"). A dinner can also be a more sophisticated meal, such as a ''[[banquet]]''.
==Dinner customs around the world==
===United Kingdom===
In the [[United Kingdom]], ''dinner'' traditionally meant the main meal of the day. Because of differences in custom as to when this meal was taken, dinner might mean the evening meal (typically used by [[upper class]] people), or the midday meal (typically used by [[working class]] people, who describe their evening meal as ''tea''). Vestiges of the [[U and non-U English|English class system]] remain in the choice of word for the evening meal - a person with upper-class antecedents might use neither "dinner" nor "tea" but, confusingly, "supper" for a less formal meal (which people in the North use to refer to a hot, often milky, drink such as cocoa or hot chocolate and biscuits, taken immediately before retiring for the night).
Large formal evening meals are invariably described as dinners (hence, also, the term [[dinner jacket]] which is a form of [[formal wear|evening dress]]).
''[[School dinner]]s'' is a [[United Kingdom|British]] phrase for school lunches – reflecting the fact that such school meals were originally provided chiefly for the children of the working class, who typically had their main meal in the middle of the day – and women working in school canteens are generally known in the UK as ''dinner ladies'' (however, if a pupil brings his or her food from home, it is a ''[[packed lunch]]'').
Ambiguity can be avoided by using ''lunch'' for the midday meal.
A more formal definition of "dinner", especially outside North America, is any meal consisting of multiple courses. The minimum is usually two but there can be as many as seven. Possible courses are:
* [[Hors d'oeuvres]] (also known as appetisers, starters)
* [[Soup]] course (occasionally [[sorbet]])
* [[Fish (food)|Fish]] course
* [[Entrée]] course (which may be a palate-cleansing course such as sorbet)
* [[Meat]] course
* [[Dessert]] (also known as the Sweet or [[pudding]] course)
* [[Cheese]] course
(after this it is customary to serve coffee, or brandy and cigars after the [[Loyal Toast]])
In French, ''entrée'' means ''entry'', ''admission''. ''L'entrée'' (singular) or ''les entrées'' (plural) are the appetisers. In Great Britain, ''entrée'' may be used for the same thing but the term ''starters'' is more commonly used. In Australia, ''entrée'' is commonly used instead of appetizers or starters. Although it was originally one of the earlier courses in North America also, it is now used for the main course. OED lists it as the main course, but gives an additional British English meaning: a ready-made dish served between the fish course and the main course.
Dinner is generally followed by [[tea]] or [[coffee]], sometimes served with mint chocolates or other sweets, or with [[brandy]] or a [[digestif]]. When dinner consists of many courses, these tend to be smaller and to be served over a longer time period than a dinner with only two or three courses. Dinners with many courses tend to occur at formal events such as dinner parties or banquets.
This formal version of the meal is generally served in the evening, starting at some time between 7.30 and 8.30 (in the Netherlands, however, typically at 6). It may be served at midday or shortly afterwards; this tends, however, to be more typical of [[Scotland]] than of other countries. In [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]], where lunch is eaten relatively late, dinner is typically served late in the evening, no earlier than 8 p.m.
===Australia, Canada, and United States===
In [[Australia]] and most parts of the [[United States]] and [[Canada]], dinner is the evening meal served around 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. In some regions, such as the southern or rural mid-western United States, the [[Atlantic Canada|Atlantic provinces]], parts of [[Saskatchewan]], and [[Quebec]], the evening meal is called [[supper]] (souper in Quebec), and dinner (dîner) refers to the noon meal, which itself would be called [[lunch]] in most parts of the United States and Canada. In the Southern United States, the main meal of the day is called Dinner, whether taken at noon or in the evening. On farms it was traditionally taken at noon. If Dinner, the main meal of the day, is at noon, the evening meal is called Supper. If Dinner, the main meal of the day, is in the evening the noon meal is called Lunch.
Mainly in Australia, tea and dinner are synonyms.
== Notes ==
<references />
==See Also==
*[[Breakfast]]
*[[Lunch]]
*[[Snack]]
== External links ==
*[http://www.history-magazine.com/dinner2.html "What time is dinner?"], History Magazine, October/November 2001
[http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=21847&dict=CALD]
[[Category:Meals]]
[[de:Abendessen]]
[[eo:Vespermanĝo]]
[[es:Merienda]]
[[fa:ناهار]]
[[fr:Dîner]]
[[ja:夕食]]
[[no:Middag]]
[[pl:Obiad]]
[[ru:Обед]]
[[simple:Dinner]]
[[th:อาหารมื้อเย็น]]
[[zh:晚餐]]