tiffin
noun
a light midday meal; lunch
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tiffin
1 American
[tif-in]
/ ˈtɪf ɪn /
noun
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
Tiffin
2
American
[tif-in]
/ ˈtɪf ɪn /
noun
tiffin
British
/ ˈtɪfɪn /
noun
Etymology
Origin of tiffin
First recorded in 1800–05; variant of tiffing (unattested), equivalent to tiff (obsolete) “to sip, drink, snack between meals” + -ing 1
Explanation
In India, a tiffin is a meal eaten any time between breakfast and dinner. The round metal lunchbox it often comes in is also called a tiffin, and it's a handy container for packing a hot lunch. During the period of British rule in India, the British custom of afternoon tea merged with the Indian custom of a light afternoon meal. It came to be called tiffin, after the English slang tiffing, "to take a little drink." In Northern India, tiffin is basically lunch, often one packed in a tiered metal lunchbox also called a tiffin. People who sell pre-packed tiffins are called tiffin wallahs or dabbawalas.
Vocabulary lists containing tiffin
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
For 15 years, the family ran a tiffin service for doctors at the adjoining hospitals, cooking and delivering meals across the medical campus.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
Rashim, who is fond of thriller TV shows, watches a local Indian serial on his smartphone while his oldest son, a young teenager, shows up with a tiffin, or lunchbox.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2022
He found a hawker to sell his necklaces and earrings in plastic tiffin boxes on a street full of cheap-jewelry sellers.
From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2022
In it, Naik writes about dishes inspired by her global travels — but often anchored in her own South Asian heritage — that are fit to pack into a tiffin, an Indian lunch box.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 24, 2021
He had a tiffin carrier with tomato sandwiches.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
"After the lockdown, work-from-home started," says Kiran Gavande, secretary of the Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
Goodwin and Tiffin get the keys to a number of private gardens, including Chilcombe, which unfolds as a series of jewel-box “rooms” planted by the late American painter, John Hubbard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026
Hero Fiennes Tiffin plays the detective as a 19-year-old in an eight-part series from Guy Ritchie.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
“There’s people that live nice in RVs,” said Montagna, who plans to pay $1,250 a month to live at the park in his 2021 Tiffin Allegro Bus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2025
It also carried Phoebe Anne Moses of Tiffin, Ohio, a young woman with a penchant for guns and an excellent sense of distance.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
