# meals



## amikama

Hi there,

English and Spanish have special names for the main meals of the day:

English: breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper 
Spanish: desayuno, almuerzo, cena 

On the other hand, Hebrew has no special names for them - they are simply called ארוחת בוקר ("morning meal"), ארוחת צהריים ("noon meal") and ארוחת ערב ("evening meal"). Quite straightforward, isn't it?

I'd like to know which languages have special names for meals and which don't.

Thanks.


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## ThomasK

Dutch : 
- *ontbijt* (to bite, to put one's teeth into something, maybe taste, seems to be the original meaning, but now reduced to breakfast)
- *middagmaal*, lunch (_middaymeal_)
- *vieruurtje* (a little 4 o'clock meal literally (_vier-uur-tje_), no longer in fashion, I think, because it has been replaced by the evening meal/ dinner, a little bit later in the evening)
- *avondmaal*

The word _maal_ (meal_)_ seems to refer to the time of eating, and is related with our word _maal/ _'time' (_driemaal,_ three times). The funny thing is that we mostly add _tijd_ (time), whereas we only mean the meal, not the time. Which shows that _maal_ got associated with eating, and even _maaltijd_ only with eating, not with time (_tijd_). So there is nothing strange about: 'Tijd voor de maaltijd' (Time for the meal).


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## Awwal12

Russian:
breakfast - "завтрак" /z*a*vtrak/
lunch - "второй завтрак" /vtor*o*y z*a*vtrak/ (lit. "second breakfast"), also "ланч" /l*a*nch/ 
dinner - "обед" /ob*e*d/
afternoon snack - "полдник" /p*o*ldnik/
supper - "ужин" /*u*zhin/


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## federicoft

In Italian meals are called _colazione _(from Latin _collatione_, meaning 'collection'), _pranzo _(from Latin _prandium_, with the same meaning) and _cena_ (from Latin _cinam_, with the same meaning).

Usually _colazione_ is the morning meal, _pranzo_ is the midday meal and _cena_ the evening meal. Also, the mid-afternoon snack is called _merenda_ (from the Latin gerundive of _merire_, meaning 'things that are deserved').
However, in formal or business settings the midday meal is called _colazione _and the evening meal is called _pranzo_ (e.g. _Pranzo di Stato_, State Dinner). In these cases, to avoid ambiguity, the morning meal is called _prima colazione_.


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## rusita preciosa

Awwal12 said:


> Russian:
> breakfast - "завтрак" /z*a*vtrak/
> lunch - "второй завтрак" /vtor*o*y z*a*vtrak/ (lit. "second breakfast"), also "ланч" /l*a*nch/
> dinner - "обед" /ob*e*d/
> afternoon snack - "полдник" /p*o*ldnik/
> supper - "ужин" /*u*zhin/


I'd say, these usages (both in English and in Russian) are quite outdated. Who eats a second breakfast nowadays? 

In modern Russian:
breakfast - "завтрак" /z*a*vtrak/
lunch - "обед" /ob*e*d/
dinner/supper - "ужин" /*u*zhin/ 

I don't even remember when I last had an "official" afternoon snack - "полдник" /p*o*ldnik/. At kindergarten may be.


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## ThomasK

Haha, this turns into a history of civilisation! I think people working on the field got up very early, had some breakfast, worked hard, had some more to eat (I believe this is where the Germans had Imbiß (which also has the _bite_ word), and those were the ones who got hungry halfway the afternoon...


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## Awwal12

> I don't even remember when I last had an "official" afternoon snack - "полдник" /poldnik/. At kindergarten may be.


I heard this word in an army hospital, for example, and not only heard. 
As for "второй завтрак" - the word at least is definitely not archaic, even if this concept may take no place in life of most modern people (who are lucky if they eat three times a day).

P.S.: Sorry for offtopic, but that strongly reminds me a Chinese boy from some old book saying "I eat once a day, but I eat everyday". )


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## rusita preciosa

Awwal12 said:


> I heard this word in an army hospital, for example, and not only heard.
> As for "второй завтрак" - the word at least is definitely not archaic, even if this concept may take no place in life of most modern people (who are lucky if they eat three times a day).


May be we should specify that *poldnik* was usually more than a snack, it's a sit-down small meal, like milk and cookies or a small sandwich and tea/cocoa, taken between 3 and 5PM.

Yes, "archaic" was a bit too strong, I actually changed it to "outdated".


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## Awwal12

> Yes, "archaic" was a bit too strong, I actually changed it to "outdated".


As far as I remember, "второй завтрак" also take place in some hospitals. And while some phenomenon exists, the word with respective meaning can become neither archaic nor outdated.  It can be replaced with some other word at best (and only then become outdated).


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## Miguelillo 87

amikama said:


> Hi there,
> 
> English and Spanish have special names for the main meals of the day:
> 
> Spanish: desayuno, almuerzo, cena
> 
> .


 
Besides those, we also have comida and merienda

Desayuno it's something light, cereal; OJ, a piece of bread etc

Almuerzo it's at noon; and it's something heavier like eggs, chicken etc..

Comida (depends on the country)  it's the heaviest of all, soup, salad, meal, and dessert.

Cena: It's like comida again, or when you didn't have your comida you can arrive to your house to la cena.

merienda, it's something very light, a pice of bread, milk, or coffe, even a sandwich can be eaten


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## apmoy70

federicoft said:


> In Italian meals are called _colazione _(from Latin _collatione_, meaning 'collection'), _pranzo _(from Latin _prandium_, with the same meaning) and _cena_ (from Latin _cinam_, with the same meaning).
> Usually _colazione_ is the morning meal, _pranzo_ is the midday meal and _cena_ the evening meal. Also, the mid-afternoon snack is called _merenda_ (from the Latin gerundive of _merire_, meaning 'things that are deserved').
> However, in formal or business settings the midday meal is called _colazione _and the evening meal is called _pranzo_ (e.g. _Pranzo di Stato_, State Dinner). In these cases, to avoid ambiguity, the morning meal is called _prima colazione_.


In Greek «κολατσιό» (kolatsç*o*, _n._) is the snack and it derives from the Byzantine Greek «κολατσίον» (kolats*i*on, _n._). It was named kolatsion probably under the influence of the Venetians or Genuats who lived at Peran. It is also called «δεκατιανό» (ðekatçan*o*, _n._), lit. "of the 10th hour".
Breakfast is «πρωινό» (proin*o*. _n._), "of the morning"; in ancient times it was called «ἄριστον» (*a*riston, _n._), "the perfect one".  
Lunch is «γεύμα» (ʝ*e*vma, _n._), lit. "that which is tasted" (named after the ancient γεῦσις, _f._->taste). It's also named «μεσημεριανό» (mesimerʝan*o*, _n_), "of midday".
Supper is called «βραδινό» (vraðin*o*, _n_), "of the evening". Formal or business dinner is called «δείπνο» (ð*i*pno, _n._, of uncertain etymology). In ancient times, «δεῖπνος» ('ðeipnos, _m._) was the main meal of the day. In Hellenistic times it described the supper and later the dinner.


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## Nizo

In *Esperanto*, the main meals of the day are referred to as:
*matenmanĝo* (morning meal)
*tagmanĝo* (day meal)
*vespermanĝo* (evening meal)
Interestingly, the PIV2 (the most authoritative monolingual Esperanto dictionary) also includes:
*lunĉo*, which is described as a short, light meal around noon, in countries where the morning and evening meals are large, _and_
*temanĝo*, a light meal during the afternoon, usually consisting of tea, cakes, cookies or sandwiches.


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## Nizo

P.S.  I think it’s interesting that French, Spanish, and English all have chosen the same theme for the first meal of the day, i.e. the idea of ending a period of fast (_dé-jeuner, des-ayunar, break-fast_).  Any others?


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## psxws

Nizo said:


> P.S.  I think it’s interesting that French, Spanish, and English all have chosen the same theme for the first meal of the day, i.e. the idea of ending a period of fast (_dé-jeuner, des-ayunar, break-fast_).  Any others?



In Arabic it is فطور, (fuTuur) which comes from the root meaning to break the fast (the meal to break the fast during Ramadan, for example, is called افطار, "ifTaar")

I had a question about this before because I used to think it was because you cannot eat an hour before church in Catholic tradition (or an hour before communion, at any rate) and so if you'd go to church in the morning you'd essentially fast until you got home. Which is why it surprised me to see the same root in Arabic, which obviously did not have this same tradition. It was explained to me as being related to the idea of there having been a natural fast during the night, since you have not eaten since dinner the night before. That makes sense to me, at least.


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## ilocas2

In Czech:

breakfast - snídaně
snack - svačina
lunch - oběd
snack - svačina
dinner - večeře


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## confusednikki=)

in Tagalog:

breakfast -  umagahan
snack - merienda
lunch - tanghalian
dinner - hapunan


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## sakvaka

*Finnish*.

breakfast = aamiainen (_very often in informal contexts: _aamupala)
lunch = lounas
dinner = päivällinen
(supper = illallinen, not so common in Finland)

And finally, we have an evening snack called _iltapala_ at 9 or 10 PM. It's similar to _aamupala_.

The words are derived from _aamu_ (morning), _päivä_ (day), _lounas_ (south-west!) and _ilta _(evening, night).


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## Black4blue

Turkish:

*Breakfast*=Kahvaltı
*Lunch*=Öğle Yemeği (Noon meal)
*Dinner*=Akşam Yemeği (Evening meal)
*snack*=atıştırma, abur cubur


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## Orlin

Bulgarian:
*Breakfast*=закуска;
*Lunch*=обяд/обед;
*Dinner=*вечеря.
Only these 3 "standard" meals have generally accepted names. I've sometimes seen the expression "следобедна закуска" ("afternoon breakfast) for an "intermediate" meal in the late afternoon (mostly for children).


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## origumi

rusita preciosa said:


> Who eats a second breakfast nowadays?


 Hobbits, of course.

Only after reading this thread I can understand the origin of two "outdated" meals when I was a little child, grown in environment dominated by Jewish immigrants from central-east Europe.

* 10 o'clock meal - between breakfast and lunch (Hebrew: ארוחת עשר)
* 4 o'clock meal - between lunch and dinner (Hebrew: ארוחת ארבע)


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## apmoy70

Greek while it does have separate names for each meal (follow my previous post) in our every-day colloquial language we just say *«πρωινό»* [pro.i'no] (neut. adj.) --> _early in the day (meal is omitted)_, *«μεσημεριανό»* [mesimerʝa'no] (neut. adj.) --> _midday (meal is ommited)_, *«βραδινό»* [vraði'no] (neut. adj.) --> _evening (meal is omitted)_.

Adj. *«πρωινός, -νή, -νό»* [pro.i'nos] (masc.), [pro.i'ni] (fem.), [pro.i'no] (neut.) --> _early in the day_ < Classical adj. *«πρωϊνός, -νὴ, -νόν» prōĭnós (masc.), prōĭnḕ (fem.), prōĭnón (neut.)* --> _early in the day, at early morning_ (PIE *proH-, _early in the morning_ cf Skt. प्रतर् (prAtar), _at dawn_; Lat. prō, _for, before_)

Adj. *«μεσημεριανός, -νή, -νό»* [mesimerʝa'nos] (masc.), [mesimerʝa'ni] (fem.), [mesimerʝa'no] (neut.) --> _midday_ < Classical adj. *«μεσημέριος, - ος, -ον» mĕsēmériŏs (masc. & fem.), mĕsēmériŏn (neut.)* --> _the middle of the day_; compound, adj. *«μέσος» mésŏs* --> _(in the) middle_ (PIE *medʰio-, _middle_ cf Skt. मध्य (madhya), _centre_; Lat. medius) + fem. noun *«ἡμέρα» hēméră* --> _day_ (PIE *Heh₂mer-, _day_ cf Arm. օր (awr), _day_)

Adj. *«βραδινός, -νή, νό»* [vraði'nos] (masc.), [vraði'ni] (fem.), [vraði'no] (neut.) --> _evening_ < Classical adj. *«βραδύς, -δεῖα, -δὺ bradús (masc.), brădeîă (fem.), bradù (neut.)* --> _tardy, late, delayed_ (PIE *gʷrd-u-, _slow_ cf Lith. gurdùs, _slow_; Ltv. gur̄ds, _tired_)


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## AutumnOwl

_*Swedish:*_
_Frukos_t (breakfast) - fru = early, kost = food
_Lunch_ (lunch)
_Middag_ (dinner) - mid = middle, dag = day; (earlier: _middagsmål_ = midday meal) When lunch took over the name of the midday meal m_iddag_ became the name of the dinner, evening meal
_Kvällsmat/aftonmål/kvällsvard_ (dinner/supper) - kväll = evening, mat = food, afton = evening, vard = old name for meal; _Kvällsmat/kvällsvard_ was once dinner, the evening meal, but when _middag_ became the name of the evening meal, _kvällsmat_ came to mean a late evening meal, supper (at home)

_Supé_  (supper) used about a late finer evening meal, for example when eating  out at a restaurant after having been at a theatre or similar
_Vickning_ - a late, usually after midnight, light meal at a party before people begin to leave
_Mellanmål_  (snack) mellan = between, mål = meal; usually used about a snack for  children at school or at home, or when adults eat something light, if  they have coffee with it, then it's a _fika_
_Fika_  (snack, coffee) - a coffee (tea, chocolate) break, if before lunch  usually with an open sandwich, after lunch often with something sweet.  Also used when taking a coffee (tea, chocolate) at a café


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## DearPrudence

In *France*, generally:

*breakfast - petit déjeuner  *_nm _(literally: _small "déjeuner"_, see below)
*lunch - déjeuner *_nm _(literally, quite the same as "_breakfast_" (stop fasting))
(*snack around 4.30 for kids  goûter *_nm _(literally: _taste_)
*dinner - dîner *_nm_ (no idea where this comes from)

But I think that in the past, it used to be as it is in some regions in France or in Belgium for instance:
*breakfast - déjeuner *_nm_
*lunch - dîner *_nm_
*dinner - souper *_nm_

So you have to be careful and specify the time if you invite Belgian friends in France


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## asanga

Cenzontle said:
			
		

> I am not an expert on Indonesian, but these are from my Indonesian/English dictionary:
> breakfast > makanan pagi
> lunch(eon) > makan tengah hari, makan siang
> dinner > makan(an) malam
> supper > makanan malam
> 
> makan = to eat
> makanan = food
> pagi = morning
> tengah hari = midday
> siang = daytime
> malam = night
> 
> I'm not sure how strictly the boundaries between makan as a verb and makanan as a noun are kept.



This is from the closed thread in the Etymology forum, but I thought I'd reply anyway because there's a lot of confusion about verbs like _makan_, even among Indonesians.

There's a strict boundary between the verb _makan _and the derivative noun _makanan_, and _makan siang_ ≠ _makanan siang_. _Makan siang_ is lunch, _makanan siang_ would refer to food typically served in the early afternoon, a lunch dish.

So if _makan_ is strictly a verb, how can _makan siang_ be a noun meaning lunch? All Indonesian verbs can act as verbal nouns in unchanged form:

_Dia *berenang *setiap pagi_. He swims every morning.
_*Berenang *sangat baik untuk kesehatan_. Swimming is very good for your health.

_Dia *makan siang *bersama keluarganya_. He eats lunch with his family.
_*Makan siang* membuat saya mengantuk_. Eating lunch makes me sleepy.  

Note that although _dia makan siang _looks like a transitive verb "he eats lunch", it's actually an intransitive verb with a complement, "he eats in the early afernoon" = he lunches.

_Makan siang_ as a verbal noun therefore literally means "Eating in the early afternoon" = lunch. In contrast, _makanan siang _consists of two nouns, the 2nd modifying the 1st: "food of/for the early afternoon" = food typically served in the afernoon, a lunch dish. Cf. English "late-night snack".

Indonesians get confused because _makan _is a base verb (like _pergi_, _datang, masuk, tinggal, bangun_, etc.) which doesn't require any prefixes or suffixes. Strictly speaking, all verbs of this type are intransitive, and we must add affixes to make them transitive active or passive:

_dia masuk_ he enters
_dia *me*masuk*i* rumah_ he enters the house
_rumah *di*masuk*i* pencuri _the house was entered by thieves

_harimau makan _the tiger eats
_harimau *me*makan kancil_ the tiger eats the deer
_kancil *di*makan harimau _the deer is eaten by the tiger

In colloquial Indonesian, however, we use the intransitive base as active transitive verbs: _dia masuk rumah_ he enters the house, _dia makan nasi_ he eats rice. _Memakan _sounds like an intensive "to eat up, completely consume", rather than simply the official transitive active form. So we tend to think of _makan _as a transitive verb, yet in a phrase like _makan siang_, _siang _is clearly not the object: we don't eat the early afternoon. Unconsciously we may therefore think of _makan siang_ as a compound noun, like _buku sekola_ schoolbook, rather than as a nominalized verb phrase, and some people explain it to foreigners as if _makan _is used in the place of _makanan_.

As for the names of the meals, we mostly say:

breakfast = _sarapan _(_pagi_)
lunch = _makan siang_ (_makan tengahari_ is Malaysian)
dinner = _makan malam_


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## bibax

rusita preciosa said:


> I'd say, these usages (both in English and in Russian) are quite outdated. Who eats a second breakfast nowadays?
> ...
> I don't even remember when I last had an "official" afternoon snack. At kindergarten may be.





ThomasK said:


> Haha, this turns into a history of civilisation! I think people working on the field got up very early, had some breakfast, worked hard, had some more to eat (I believe this is where the Germans had Imbiß (which also has the bite word), and those were the ones who got hungry halfway the afternoon...


When I was in the army, we were building underground concrete shelters for the anti-aircraft missiles around Prague as some murderers from the Wall Street allegedly wanted to kill us with N-bombs (I don't mean the psychedelic drug). We worked hard 12 hours a day, so we had 5 meals a day. (Btw, it was a senseless work, now we have the most expensive storehouses for potatoes in the world).

We had the following meals:
*snídaně* - before 6am (eggs, sausages, cheese, salami, butter - not all at once, of course);
(dopolední) *svačina* - 9am (a thick soup, bread);
*oběd* - at noon (a light soup, main dish e.g. goulash+knödel, chicken+pasta, schnitzel+potatoes);
(odpolední) *svačina* - 3pm (salami, liver pâté, cheese or something sweet);
*večeře* - after 6pm (like *oběd* without soup; packed food on Sunday);

Usually the main meals are: *snídaně* (6-8am), *oběd* (11am-1pm), *večeře* (6-8pm).

Related verbs:
_impf._ snídati, svačiti, obědvati, večeřeti;
_perf._ posnídati, posvačiti, poobědvati, povečeřeti;
_perf._ nasnídati se, nasvačiti se, naobědvati se, navečeřeti se;

Etymology:
snídaně < *sъn- (prefix, cf. Gr. syn-) + *jědanьje (= eating) < jědati (= to eat, cf. Lat. edere);
oběd < ob- (prefix, cf. Lat. ob-) + *jěd(anьje), see above;
svačina < *svatčina (= feast meal) < svátek (= feast) < svatý (= holly, saint);
večeře < večer (= evening, cf. Lat vesper);

dopolední = adj. of dopoledne (= _"beforenoon")_;
odpolední = adj. of odpoledne (= afternoon);


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## Cenzontle

Thank you, asanga (#24), for your informative explanation of Indonesian meal-names, with the bonus of transitive and intransitive verbs, etc.
My small dictionary has some strange gaps:  it doesn't include "sarapan" (breakfast), only "sarap" (rubbish).  Could they be related?


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## arielipi

psxws said:


> In Arabic it is فطور, (fuTuur) which comes from the root meaning to break the fast (the meal to break the fast during Ramadan, for example, is called افطار, "ifTaar")
> 
> I had a question about this before because I used to think it was because you cannot eat an hour before church in Catholic tradition (or an hour before communion, at any rate) and so if you'd go to church in the morning you'd essentially fast until you got home. Which is why it surprised me to see the same root in Arabic, which obviously did not have this same tradition. It was explained to me as being related to the idea of there having been a natural fast during the night, since you have not eaten since dinner the night before. That makes sense to me, at least.



In hebrew theres a name for the meal before the fast: סעודה מפסקת se'*u*da mafseket lit. stop/breaking meal.
The eating after the fast is called שבירת צום shvirat tzom lit. breaking fast.
The first meal on shabbat is called סעודת ערב שבת se'*u*dat erev shabbat meal of the evening of saturday, the second סעודת יום שבת se'*u*dat yom shabbat meal of the dayof saturday, and the third is called סעודה שלישית se'*u*da shlishit third meal.


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## asanga

Cenzontle said:


> Thank you, asanga (#24), for your informative explanation of Indonesian meal-names, with the bonus of transitive and intransitive verbs, etc.
> My small dictionary has some strange gaps:  it doesn't include "sarapan" (breakfast), only "sarap" (rubbish).  Could they be related?



_Sarapan _is from the verb _sarap_, meaning "to eat a little to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling of an empty stomach", i.e. "to break fast". For the end of a religious fast we use the term _buka puasa_ "opening the fast".

If your Indonesian is already good enough to read a monolingual dictionary, the official dictionary of the Indonesian Language Centre can be found here:

http://bahasa.kemdiknas.go.id/kbbi/index.php


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## Yaella

Wouldn't "maal" in Dutch be related to "meal" in English?


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## jana.bo99

Meals. 
breakfast, lunch, dinner

In Croatian: doručak, ručak, večera

In Slovenian: zajtrk, kosilo, večerja

In German: Frühstück, Mittagessen, Abendessen


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## Favara

Catalan (at least Valencian, I'm not sure about the rest):

Desdejuni (breakfast): Prefix _des- _(negation/inversion) + dejuni ("fast", Latin ieiunium)
Esmorzar (mid-morning): Latin admordere ("to bite")
Dinar (noon, or a bit later): Same origin as _desdejuni_ (_dis + ieiunare)_
Berenar (evening): Latin merenda
Sopar (night): From _sopa_ ("soup")

5 meals a day!


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## SuperXW

In Chinese:

早饭 / 午饭 / 晚饭 (morning meal / noon meal / evening meal)
早餐 / 午餐 / 晚餐 (more formal words: morning meal / noon meal / evening meal)

Sometimes, in some regions, 早点 (morning dim-sum), 早茶 (morning tea) would be used, but "morning / noon / evening" will always be kept.


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## Chrzaszcz Saproksyliczny

I'd like to revive this thread, as I think meals in different languages are a fascinating subject, and often a puzzle for translators where eating cultures differ.


> Who eats a second breakfast nowadays?


Well, I do.

Of course, a culture is never homogenic, but generally in Polish there is supposed to be:
_śniadanie_ (eaten as soon as the members of the household are all up)
_drugie śniadanie_ (lit. second breakfast, about 10-11)
(in some homes, also a midday _kawa_, coffee time)
_obiad_ (the largest meal, often more than single-course, eaten anywhere between 12 and 5pm)
(in some homes, _deser_ after _obiad_ - a dessert)
(in some homes, also _podwieczorek_, akin to English teatime or French goûter)
_kolacja _(an evening dinner, or supper)

It is interesting how we dropped the Slavic _wieczerza_ for a word which in Italian means a meal in a completely different part of the day. Anyway, that can be a lot of eating!


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## ThomasK

The funny thing is: here in Flanders none will know second breakfasts, but while consulting a dialect dictionary I bumped into an _*imbijt*_, a breakfast at 9 am (copied from German, I guess), whereas country people had breakfast (_*ontbijt*_) at 6 or something.

When we were kids, we used to have a _*vieruurtje *_(a little four-o'clock, le goûter in French, not really afternoon tea)...


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## Dymn

Favara said:


> Catalan (at least Valencian, I'm not sure about the rest):
> 
> Desdejuni (breakfast): Prefix _des- _(negation/inversion) + dejuni ("fast", Latin ieiunium)
> Esmorzar (mid-morning): Latin admordere ("to bite")
> Dinar (noon, or a bit later): Same origin as _desdejuni_ (_dis + ieiunare)_
> Berenar (evening): Latin merenda
> Sopar (night): From _sopa_ ("soup")


In Catalonia there is no _desdejuni_, "breakfast" is _esmorzar_ and if you have a light meal at mid morning you would say _esmorzar de mig matí _or _segon esmorzar _or something like that.

Also I would say _berenar _is in the afternoon and _sopar_ in the evening (dinner). A light meal before going to bed if dinner is early (admittedly not common in Spain) is a _ressopó._


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## Welsh_Sion

*Cymraeg/Welsh

brecwast *< Eng. 'breakfast' < break + fast
*cinio* < Lat. 'cena'
*(swper chwarel)* '(slate) quarry supper' (now defunct, only a folk memory, taken about 5pm. Replaced by *te *(q.v.))
*panad dri* < Wel. cwpan + -aid +3 'a cup of coffee/tea at 3pm and a biscuit/piece of cake
*te *< Eng 'tea'
*swper* < Eng. 'supper' (usually some toast, a biscuit, a drink)

*English

breakfast *< break + fast
*elevenses *'a little snack and cup of tea/coffee at 11 am'
*lunch (Southern English), dinner (Northern English)
(high) tea* (taken around 4 pm. Cakes, cream, jam, tea, biscuits.)
*dinner/supper (Southern English), tea (Northern English)* 'main meal of the day taken between 7 and 8pm'


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## apmoy70

apmoy70 said:


> Greek while it does have separate names for each meal (follow my previous post) in our every-day colloquial language we just say *«πρωινό»* [pro.i'no] (neut. adj.) --> _early in the day (meal is omitted)_, *«μεσημεριανό»* [mesimerʝa'no] (neut. adj.) --> _midday (meal is ommited)_, *«βραδινό»* [vraði'no] (neut. adj.) --> _evening (meal is omitted)_.
> 
> Adj. *«πρωινός, -νή, -νό»* [pro.i'nos] (masc.), [pro.i'ni] (fem.), [pro.i'no] (neut.) --> _early in the day_ < Classical adj. *«πρωϊνός, -νὴ, -νόν» prōĭnós (masc.), prōĭnḕ (fem.), prōĭnón (neut.)* --> _early in the day, at early morning_ (PIE *proH-, _early in the morning_ cf Skt. प्रतर् (prAtar), _at dawn_; Lat. prō, _for, before_)
> 
> Adj. *«μεσημεριανός, -νή, -νό»* [mesimerʝa'nos] (masc.), [mesimerʝa'ni] (fem.), [mesimerʝa'no] (neut.) --> _midday_ < Classical adj. *«μεσημέριος, - ος, -ον» mĕsēmériŏs (masc. & fem.), mĕsēmériŏn (neut.)* --> _the middle of the day_; compound, adj. *«μέσος» mésŏs* --> _(in the) middle_ (PIE *medʰio-, _middle_ cf Skt. मध्य (madhya), _centre_; Lat. medius) + fem. noun *«ἡμέρα» hēméră* --> _day_ (PIE *Heh₂mer-, _day_ cf Arm. օր (awr), _day_)
> 
> Adj. *«βραδινός, -νή, νό»* [vraði'nos] (masc.), [vraði'ni] (fem.), [vraði'no] (neut.) --> _evening_ < Classical adj. *«βραδύς, -δεῖα, -δὺ bradús (masc.), brădeîă (fem.), bradù (neut.)* --> _tardy, late, delayed_ (PIE *gʷrd-u-, _slow_ cf Lith. gurdùs, _slow_; Ltv. gur̄ds, _tired_)


Apologies for quoting myself, just wanted to add the ancient Greek names for the meals of the day (the ones in my previous post are MoGr):

-Breakfast: Initially, *«ἄρῑστον» ā́rīstŏn* (neut.), not to be confused with the neuter form *«ἄριστον» ắrĭstŏn* of adjective *«ἄριστος» ắrĭstŏs* (the difference in syllable weight is a giveaway that the two words are unrelated).
*«Ἄρῑστον» ā́rīstŏn* is a compound: Classical adverb *«ἦρι/ἆρι» êrĭ* and *ârĭ* --> _early_ (PIE *h₂eu̯s-er-i- _early_ cf Proto-Germanic *airi > Ger. eher, Eng. ere, Dt. eer) + Classical v. *«ἔδω» édō* --> _to eat_ (PIE **h₁ed-*).
Later, «ἄρῑστον» becomes the name of the main meal of the day, and breakfast then is:

*«Ἀκρᾱ́τισμα» ăkrā́tismă* (neut.), deverbative noun from the deponent v. *«ἀκρᾱτίζομαι» ăkrātízŏmai̯* --> _to eat breakfast_ < *«ἄκρᾱτος οἶνος» ắkrātŏs oî̯nŏs* --> _pure wine, unmixed with water_ (because breakfast was usually bread dipped in wine).

-Lunch: Initially, *«δεῖπνον» deî̯pnŏn* (neut.) which later became the name of the last meal of the day (dinner). Its etymology is obscure, some see a connection with the v. *«δάπτω» dắptō* --> _to eat, devour_, from a possible PIE root *déh₂ps- _portion, sacrificial meal_ cognate with Lat. daps, damnum; others consider it Pre-Greek.
Later, «δεῖπνον» is dinner, and lunch is then «ἄρῑστον» (see above).

-Dinner: Initially, *«δόρπον» dórpŏn* (neut.), from a possible PIE root *dorkʷ-o- _supper, dinner, evening_ cognate with Proto-Albanian *darkā, _evening_; for Lubotsky, de Vaan & Beekes the limited distribution of the word suggests a borrowing (Balkan Wanderword?).
Later, it was replaced with «δεῖπνον».


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## AndrasBP

Hungarian:

*reggeli *(breakfast) - from "reggel" (= morning) + adjectival suffix -i
*tízórai *("pre-lunch snack") - from tíz (= ten) + óra (hour) + suffix -i
*ebéd *(lunch) - a Slavic loanword
*uzsonna *("post-lunch snack") - a Slavic loan, see Russian 'užin' (dinner)
*vacsora *(dinner) - from Slavic 'večera'


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## Włoskipolak 72

apmoy70 said:


> In Greek «*κολατσιό*» (kolatsç*o*, _n._) is the snack and it derives from the Byzantine Greek «κολατσίον» (kolats*i*on, _n._). It was named kolatsion probably under the influence of the Venetians or Genuats who lived at Peran. It is also called «δεκατιανό» (ðekatçan*o*, _n._), lit. "of the 10th hour".
> Breakfast is «πρωινό» (proin*o*. _n._), "of the morning"; in ancient times it was called «ἄριστον» (*a*riston, _n._), "the perfect one".
> Lunch is «γεύμα» (ʝ*e*vma, _n._), lit. "that which is tasted" (named after the ancient γεῦσις, _f._->taste). It's also named «μεσημεριανό» (mesimerʝan*o*, _n_), "of midday".
> Supper is called «βραδινό» (vraðin*o*, _n_), "of the evening". Formal or business dinner is called «δείπνο» (ð*i*pno, _n._, of uncertain etymology). In ancient times, «δεῖπνος» ('ðeipnos, _m._) was the main meal of the day. In Hellenistic times it described the supper and later the dinner.



It is quite curious  in Polish,   dinner = *kolacja ,* ( _*kołacya*_ , *kolacya *) in old Polish ,  and it derives from Latin *collatio* , -nis , conferre , to accumulate, collect, especially money'.
Interestingly, initially such "dinners" ( kolacja ) were prepared in the morning or at noon, moreover, they differed from long, sumptuous feasts ( *biesiada*) or feasts ( *uczta* ) during which drinks were flowing in streams, and all kinds of meat could not be missing on the tables.

*Wieczerza *(Supper) is an old word common to all Slavs: the Proto-Slavic word * *večeŕa* comes from the Proto-Slavic word * *večerъ* 'evening'.
Wieczerza in the meaning of 'evening meal' was used widely and completely neutral in terms of style even in the 19th century.

*Śniadanie* ( breakfast ) : derivate from old Polish verb  *śniadać *, *śniodać* , from prasłowiańskiego Proto-Slavic  **sъn-ěsti  , *Polish :* śnieść* , zjeść ,
spożywać  ( to eat ).
The fact that the morning meal has (had) always been considered the most important is evidenced, among other things, by its name: it is this meal that is called  *Śniadanie *( zjadanie )*,*  (eating), and not any of the others during the day.

Italian 

Breakfast
*colazióne* (ant. o pop. *colezióne*) s. f. [dal lat. _collatio_ -_onis_ «il mettere insieme» (v. collazione), e nel lat. tardo «riunione, conversazione»: in origine infatti era il pasto che i monaci prendevano dopo la riunione della sera]

colazióne (ant. or pop. colezióne) s. f. [from Lat. collatio -onis "putting together" (see collation), and in Lat. late "meeting, conversation": originally it was in fact the meal that the monks had after the evening meeting].


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