English → Latin
“dinner” in Latin
cēnadinner, supper, principal meal (anciently taken at noon, afterwards later); gwestva (a duty levied by Welsh kings twice prandiumany meal; fodderseptimusseventhcēnōto dine, eat dinner, sup; to be served; to pass the night in feastsprandeōto take or eat breakfast or luncheon, breakfast; to eat (in general); to breakfast on, lunch on, take as breakfast or luaccubōto lie or recline by, with, on or near something; relax; to recline at a meal or dinner, on a Roman lectus; (absolutely)servōto maintain, keep; to protect, save, keep, guard, safeguard, watch over; to give heed to, pay attention to; watch, obser
The English word dinner itself goes back to Latin disiūnō, through *disiūnō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
dinner
cena (the principal meal of the Romans; usually the last of the day, to which they sat down at about the hora nona, though often later; it was this to which guests were invited): cibus meridianus: prandium (a late breakfast, usually of only cold meat, about the hora sexta or septima; in an army the prandium was the principal meal). To get one’s dinner, cenare, prandere (the latter especially of an army; ducibus praeceptum, ut prandere omnes juberent, Liv.): to sit down to dinner, accubare (since the Romans lay down): to order dinner, cenam imperare (with dative; e.g., servo): to invite anybody to dinner, aliquem ad cenam vocare, invitare, and (Nep.) devocare: to be getting dinner ready; to prepare the dinner, cenam adparare (Tac.), curare (Plaut.): to cook a dinner, cenam coquere: to give a dinner to anybody, cenam dare alicui (Plaut., Cic.); cenae adhibere aliquem: to give dinners, cenas or coenulas facere (Cic.): to take one’s dinner with anybody, cenare apud aliquem: to come to take one’s dinner with anybody, venire ad cenam: after dinner, post cenam; often by participle cenatus. That is my only chance of getting a dinner, est illic mihi una spes cenatica (Plaut.): to give a dinner of three courses, cenam tribus ferculis praebere: an early dinner, cena tempestiva (with the Romans, for the purpose of gaining more time, either for rational conversation or for the pleasures of the table): to have a dinner of seven courses served up when one is quite alone, fercula septem secreto cenare (Juv.): to be longing for one’s dinner, cenaturire (Martial.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for dinner?
- The usual Latin words for “dinner” are cēna, prandium, septimus; also cēnō, prandeō, accubō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.