Dinner

Reflecting the typical custom of the 17th century, Louis XIV dined at noon, and had supper at 10:00 pm.

[6] But in Europe, dinner began to move later in the day during the 1700s, due to developments in work practices, lighting, financial status, and cultural changes.

[2] The fashionable hour for dinner continued to be incrementally postponed during the 18th century, to two and three in the afternoon, and, in 1765, King George III dined at 4:00 pm, though his infant sons had theirs with their governess at 2:00 pm, leaving time to visit the queen as she dressed for dinner with the king.

[8] At the time of the First French Empire an English traveler to Paris remarked upon the "abominable habit of dining as late as seven in the evening".

[10] The satirical novel Living for Appearances (1855) by Henry Mayhew and his brother Augustus begins with the views of the hero on the matter.

The term for the midday meal is most commonly used by working-class people, especially in the English Midlands, North of England and the central belt of Scotland.

[13] A survey by Jacob's Creek, an Australian winemaker, found the average evening meal time in the U.K. to be 7:47pm.

[15] During the times of Ancient Rome, a dinner party was referred to as a convivium, and was a significant event for Roman emperors and senators to congregate and discuss their relations.