What does dine mean?
Dine is a verb meaning to eat dinner, particularly in a formal, refined, or celebratory context, though it can also refer simply to taking a main meal. It carries connotations of elegance and occasion — one dines at restaurants, banquets, and fine establishments rather than grabbing food on the go. The verb is common in fixed expressions such as "dine out" (to eat away from home), "dine on" something (to consume a particular dish), and the idiomatic "wine and dine," which describes entertaining someone lavishly. Derived forms include diner (a person dining, or in American English, a casual roadside restaurant) and dining, as in "dining room." Slightly more formal than everyday alternatives like eat, dine lends a polished tone to writing about food and hospitality. Its history stretches back through Old French to Latin roots concerning the breaking of one's daily fast, giving the word a lineage as long as the ritual it describes.
To eat dinner; to take a meal, especially a formal or elaborate one.
"They dined by candlelight on the terrace."
Often followed by "on" to specify the food eaten.
(Transitive) To provide a formal dinner or banquet for someone.
"The city dined the visiting delegation at the mayor's residence."
"Dine" traces back over two millennia to Latin disjejunare — literally "to break one's fast" — making every dinner a small act of ending a fast.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dine
Dine entered English from Old French "disner" (later "dîner"), which derived from Vulgar Latin *disjejunare, meaning "to break the fast" — formed from Latin "dis-" (apart) and "jejunare" (to fast). The word thus originally referred to taking the first meal that ended the day's fasting. Cognates include modern French dîner. English also borrowed "dinner" from the same French root, so the noun and verb share a single origin rather than one deriving from the other.
Related word forms
How dine is actually used
Register: slightly formal or elevated compared with plain "eat." Common in restaurant, hospitality, and lifestyle contexts. "Dine out" means eating away from home; "wine and dine" implies lavish entertaining.
Easily confused with dine
Dine is the verb meaning to eat a (usually formal) meal, while dinner is the noun for the main meal itself.