the principal meal of the day. The word is derived from the French *dîner*, which Du Cange derives from the barbarous Latin *disnare*; but Henry Stephens derives it from the Greek *δισνεῖν*, and contends that it should be written *dipner*. Ménage deduces it from the Italian *desinare*, to dine; and that from the Latin *desinere*, to leave off work.