Dinnering

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of dining or having dinner in a social or formal setting
2. A gathering typically involving a meal, often centered around conversation and interaction
3. Engaging in the ritual of sharing a meal, usually in an indoor environment with family or friends

Etymology: "Dinnering" is simply the present participle and gerund of "dinner," so its history is that of the verb's root noun. The surprise lies in "dinner" itself: it once meant a breakfast-time meal. Middle English "dyner" came from Old French "disner," which originally meant "breakfast" before shifting to "lunch," and modern French "dîner" still carries that flexible sense of the main meal. The French word traces back to a Vulgar Latin verb, "*disiūnāre," built from Latin "dis-" and "iēiūnō," meaning "to break the fast." In other words, the word's deepest core is the act of ending a fast, which is why a morning meal was its first meaning. Over centuries the timing of the day's main meal drifted later, and the name followed it.