word usage - Dinner is lunch?

In India, a 'dinner' strictly means the meals eaten somewhere between 1900 hr to 2200 hr (depending upon when an officegoer reaches home). I mean the night meal is dinner.

And yes, for those who start thinking on 'when evening begins', it's important to clarify that in this context it does not matter when the sun sets! Dinner is still between the said hours.

Collins confused me further:

dinner: a meal taken in the evening or
a meal taken at midday, esp when it is the main meal of the day; lunch

MW is exactly opposite to what we Indians believe:

dinner: the principal meal of the day ~ "Never," will say most of Indians!

Because I'd invite my girlfriend for a 'candlelit dinner'. When candles are lit; in the dark somewhere around 2000 hr. My friends would beat me up if I invite them for the dinner (full meal, heavy meal) in the afternoon!

In fact, being a healthcare provider, we suggest heavy lunch and light dinner -Source DailyMail.co.uk so that in the night with no physical activities, you'll digest the dinner (which is light) easier. During day, heavy meal (lunch) is okay as you are quite active and will digest it well.

So, the question - If I'm eating my heavy meal say around 1300 hr, may I call it as the dinner? Okay, I'll be eating some light meal in the evening/night (around 2000 hr.) so to clarify that the 1300 hr meal is not the only meal for me for that day.

Answer

Lunch? Dinner? Supper? It seems to depend on where you live.

Where I grew up, it was breakfast, lunch, and finally dinner. Where my mother grew up, it was little dinner, dinner, and supper, where dinner was the largest meal (she grew up on a farm). When I raised my own family, I used breakfast, lunch, and finally dinner. But since people come from all over the country to where I live, when talking to others, I use supper for the evening meal.

Dinner:

• a meal taken in the evening


• a meal taken at midday, esp when it is the main meal of the day; lunch

Supper:

• A light evening meal when dinner is taken at midday.



• A light meal eaten before going to bed.

To make it worse, in Middle English dinner meant "breakfast," as did the Old French word disner, or diner.

It's hard to go wrong with breakfase and lunch. I guess you just need to ask in each country you're in, What is the evening meal called here?