luncheon
Syllables: lun·cheonUK/ˈlʌn.tʃən/
luncheon noun: a formal meal served in the middle of the day.
Noun
luncheon (countable and uncountable, plural luncheons)
- A formal meal served in the middle of the day.
- Most people thought the food at the luncheon was mediocre.
- Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety. She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 2, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC
- A large, cheap, processed sausage served in thin slices.
- Ian bought the luncheon since it was on special.
- Filled Roll (x2) 1x luncheon, tomato, lettuce, and mayonnaise / 1x cheese and onion2014 June 3, John Pratt, Anna Eriksson, “Understanding differences in punishment”, in Contrasts in Punishment: An Explanation of Anglophone Excess and Nordic Exceptionalism, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN...
- Any midday meal; lunch.
- "Have you had luncheon?"1931, Carolyn Keene [Mildred Wirt Benson], The Mystery at Lilac Inn (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories), 2 edition, volume 4, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, page 4
- A lump of food.
- A portion of food taken at any time except at a regular meal; an informal or light repast.
- At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.1892, Walter Besant, chapter II, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC
Verb
luncheon (third-person singular simple present luncheons, present participle luncheoning, simple past and past participle luncheoned)
- To eat luncheon.
- In the meantime, while ladies are luncheoning on chicken pie, or coursing in whirling britskas, performing all the singular ceremonies of a London morning in the heart of the season[…]1844, Benjamin Disraeli, Coningsby
- To serve luncheon to.
- Towns welcomed us in our hundreds; M.P.’s luncheoned us, manufacturers turned out their warehouses, decorated them and feasted us; private families tea’d us on their lawns, but we were so true to our art that we always returned to—“papers!”1896 May 1, H. P. Robinson, “Digressions. V.—The Convention.”, in The British Journal of Photography, volume XLIII, number 1878, London: Henry Greenwood & Co., […], page 277, column 1
- This gentleman was presented by Colonel C. E. S. Wood, and was entertained here—wined, dined, tead, breakfasted, coffeed and luncheoned—and we bought his pictures.1909, The Public, page 109
luncheon meaning in Tamil, Urdu and Malay
luncheon in Tamil
- நண்பகலுணவு
luncheon in Urdu
- دوپہر کا کھانا
luncheon in Malay
- formal meal served in the middle of the day — see also lunch
- jamuan tengah hari
Examples of luncheon in a sentence
- Taylor, ’18, luncheoned him at the Honolulu Club.1936, The Stanford Illustrated Review, volume 38, number 13, page 23, column 1:
- M., luncheoned her on Thursday at the Warden Hotel.1939 February 4, “Detroit”, in Boxoffice, volume 34, number 11, Associated Publications, page 102, column 2:
- To soften him up, a group of his fellows luncheoned him at the Jonathan Club in Los Angeles.1947 February 21, Norman F. Carroll, “[Class Notes] 09”, in Princeton Alumni Weekly, volume 47, number 19, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton...
- Harry (Sybil) Brand farewell-luncheoned her New York friends Monday (21), before taking off for Paris with John Haskell, representing TWA, on month’s vacation, first time over.1949 February 23, “Broadway”, in Variety, volume 173, number 11, New York, N.Y., page 54, column 2:
Synonyms of luncheon
Forms of luncheon
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | luncheons |
| alternative form (obsolete) | lunching |
| alternative form (obsolete) | lunchen |
| alternative form (obsolete) | slunchin |
| alternative form (obsolete) | lunshin |
| alternative form (obsolete) | lunchion |
| alternative form (obsolete) | lunchin |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | luncheons |
| present participle | luncheoning |
| past participle | luncheoned |
| past | luncheoned |
Origin of luncheon
Of uncertain origin. Possibly derived from an earlier *lumpchin, *lumpchen, a diminutive of lump (“chunk, parcel of food, lunch”), thus related to lunch. It is unclear which came first: whether lunch is a shortening of luncheon, or whether luncheon is an augmentation of lunch. Possibly also a dissimilatory form of or influenced by nuncheon (“light snack taken in the afternoon”). Noun sense 2 (“sausage”) is likely a ellipsis of luncheon sausage or luncheon meat.
Words formed from luncheon
Phrases with luncheon
Words that rhyme with luncheon
Questions about luncheon
- What does luncheon mean?
- Luncheon means a formal meal served in the middle of the day.
- What is luncheon in Tamil?
- Luncheon in Tamil is நண்பகலுணவு. See Luncheon meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use luncheon in a sentence?
- Taylor, ’18, luncheoned him at the Honolulu Club.
- What part of speech is luncheon?
- Luncheon can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce luncheon?
- Luncheon is pronounced /ˈlʌn.tʃən/ (UK).
- What is the plural of luncheon?
- The plural of luncheon is luncheons.
Words near luncheon in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: luncheon (page history and authors); luncheon (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); luncheon (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-luncheon.ogg.
Cite this entry: “luncheon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/luncheon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.