Etymologically
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luncheon

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈlʌn.tʃən/[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[2][3][4] The OED suggests that it is an extended form of lunch in its old sense "thick piece, hunk", made on the pattern of punch beside puncheon or after truncheon or nuncheon, although lunch in that sense is recorded slightly later; alternatively it may be an alteration of truncheon or nuncheon, perhaps by association with lump, in which case lunch would be a shortening of luncheon.[2] The Shorter Oxford likewise takes the "hunk" sense as probably an extension of lunch after punch beside puncheon and trunch, truncheon, and calls the other uses of unknown origin.[4] Etymonline thinks it is perhaps based on the northern dialect word lunch, a hunk of bread or cheese, which is said to come from Spanish lonja (“a slice”), blended with or influenced by nuncheon;[3][5] the American Heritage Dictionary and Collins instead take it as probably an alteration of nuncheon, a light snack,[6][7] and Dictionary.com as a dissimilated variant of it.[8] Nuncheon goes back to Middle English nonshench (“a midday refreshment”), formed from none (“noon”) and shench (“drink”),[9][6][3] the second part from Old English scenc (“a drink, cup”), related to scencan (“to pour out”).[6][8][3] Klein calls luncheon a blend of lunch and nuncheon.[10] Johnson (1755) reported that Minsheu derived it from Spanish and Skinner from a Germanic word for a small piece, and thought it probably came from clutch or clunch.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

A large chunk of food, especially of bread or cheese; a thick slice or hunk: first recorded in 1571, in a French–English dictionary.[2] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster date this sense to 1580,[12][13] and Etymonline to the 1570s.[3]

Semantic evolution

The word moved from a hunk of food to a light meal.[12][3] In the 17th century a luncheon was a light meal or snack taken between the main meals,[2][4] recorded before 1652 in Richard Brome, according to the OED,[2] and in the 1610s in the spelling lunchen, according to Etymonline, which dates the spelling luncheon for the meal to the 1650s.[3] The OED thinks that this sense almost certainly shows some influence of nuncheon.[2] Etymonline notes that it referred especially to an early afternoon meal eaten by people whose dinner was at noon.[3] Johnson (1755) still defined it as the amount of food one's hand can hold.[11] Later it became a main meal in the middle of the day, and now especially a formal one held for a group or an occasion.[2][7][13] The verb, to eat luncheon, is recorded from 1820, in Walter Scott.[2] The old sense "thick slice of food, especially of bread, cheese or meat" lived on in the dialects of Scotland, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Herefordshire, East Anglia and Devon.[14]

Timeline

  • 1571 – a large chunk or thick slice of food.[2] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster date it to 1580.[12][13]
  • 1610s – a light meal between mealtimes, as lunchen.[3]
  • before 1652 – a light meal or snack between main meals.[2]
  • 1756 – used without an article, as the name of the meal.[2]
  • 1820 – verb, to eat luncheon.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A meal eaten in the middle of the day; lunch, especially a formal one: The mayor gave a luncheon for the visiting delegates.[7][13][2]
  2. (archaic) A thick piece or hunk of food, such as bread or cheese.[13][2][4]

Verb

  1. To eat luncheon.[13][2]

Word family

  • luncheonless
  • luncheonette
  • luncheon meat

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  12. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  13. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  14. ^ 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)