dinner timen.
/ˈdɪnə tʌɪm/, U.S. /ˈdɪnər ˌtaɪm/ The time at which dinner is eaten, customarily either around midday or in the evening; the period of time set aside for eating dinner.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > meal-time > [noun] > dinner-time
dinner time1370
dining timea1450
dinner hour1598
1370 in J. Raine Fabric Rolls York Minster (1859) 181 Swa yt yai sall noghte dwell fra yair werkes in ye forsayde loge natyme of ye yer in dyner tyme.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 853 He shall be with you to-morne by dyner tyme.
c1555 Manifest Detection Diceplay sig. A.vi Let me here then what matters were moued at dinner time, and how ye passed the after none, tyll the company brake vp.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice i. i. 105 We will leaue you then till dinner time . View more context for this quotation
1673 tr. E. de Refuge Art of Complaisance viii. 68 Here [sc. the Inns of Court] it is that you may see in a Winter term at dinner time..a drowsie companie of formal Fellows.
1710 Tatler No. 258. ⁋2 We were disturbed all Dinner-Time by the Noise of the Children.
1795 A. Witts Diary 24 Jan. in Edinb. Diary (2016) 175 Weather unchanged, till near Dinner time.
1869 A. Trollope He knew he was Right I. vi. 39 Before dinner-time a reconcilation had been effected.
1965 B. Friel Philadelphia, here I Come! in Sel. Plays (1984) 93 They were in at dinner time. I got some cans off them.
1994 New Scientist 15 Jan. 43/2 He was not obsessed by the fact that when he was having lunch in Paris, it was dinner time in Tokyo.
2009 J. Csatari Your Best Body at 40+ ii. 65/2 Snacking at 4 pm will prevent feelings of sheer starvation at dinnertime.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021).
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n.1370