the.com/dinner

means The main meal of the day, eaten at midday or evening depending on culture and class, built around the biggest or most substantial course.

from From Old French 'disner,' going back to a Vulgar Latin verb that essentially meant 'to break one's fast' — built from 'dis-' (undoing) plus a root related to 'jejunus,' meaning fasting or empty-stomached (the same root that gives English 'jejune'). So 'dinner' was never about the clock — it meant whatever meal broke the fast, which is why it could land at noon for medieval workers or at 8pm for modern diners. The word just followed hunger around as mealtimes drifted later over the centuries.