Dinnerware
/ˈdɪnərˌwɛr/noun
Tableware used for serving and eating meals.
Did you know?Although the modern word is a plain compound, its first half, dinner, ultimately comes from a medieval French word for the day’s first meal, showing how a simple household term can carry centuries of social change.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
dine
“To eat the first meal of the day, or breakfast”
c. 1300
Old French
disner
“To dine; also the first meal of the day”
Middle English
ME
dinner
“The first meal of the day, later shifting to the main meal”
Old English
OE
waru
“Goods, merchandise, wares”
Modern English
English
dinnerware
“Tableware used for serving and eating meals”