Etymologically
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lunch

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:51. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /lʌntʃ/[1]

Etymology

It is a shortening of luncheon,[2][3][4] which is of uncertain origin[2][5] and appears to be the same as an older lunch “thick piece, hunk” (1570s),[2][5][6] perhaps from lump[2] or from Spanish lonja “slice”.[5][6][7] There was also a contemporary nuncheon “light midday meal”, from noon and Middle English schench “drink”.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A small meal between breakfast and dinner: 1786 in Etymonline,[2] 1829 in the OED and Barnhart.[8][3] Merriam-Webster dates the noun to 1812 and the verb to 1811.[9]

Semantic evolution

Until the 19th century a light midday meal was a luncheon,[6] and when lunch appeared in the 1820s people regarded it either as lower-class or as a fashionable affectation.[6] The meal grew from a light snack (mid-17th century) to a full meal in the 19th century.[6] Old English had nonmete “noon-meat”.[2] The verb is attested from 1786,[2] and 1823 in Isaac D'Israeli according to Barnhart.[3][8] Out to lunch, “crazy, unaware”, is North American slang from 1955,[8] and there's no such thing as a free lunch was used in the 1950s among American economists.[6] In northern and eastern English dialect a lunch was a lump or large slice of bread or meat.[10]

Timeline

  • 1570s – a thick piece, a hunk.[2]
  • 1786 – a light meal; verb.[2]
  • 1823 – verb, to take lunch.[8][3]
  • 1829 – noun in the OED.[8][3]
  • 1955 – out to lunch.[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A meal eaten in the middle of the day.
  2. The food for such a meal.

Verb

  1. To eat lunch.
  2. To give lunch to.

Word family

  • luncher
  • lunchless
  • lunchtime
  • prelunch
  • brunch
  • lunchroom
  • box lunch
  • free lunch
  • luncheonette
  • luncheon
  • lump
  • nuncheon
  • noon

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)