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:
At the counter selling pastries, bread and lunches, Helen Vandenhaute shows me their stackable "tiffin tins" used for takeaways.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2023
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
The arrival of a tiffin adds a little drama to the scene, as a server deconstructs the silver tower and crowds the recipient’s table with steamy and fragrant metal bowls of food.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 12, 2019
Though he had had his dinner before leaving for the station, a four-layer tiffin carrier packed by his mother sat at his feet, in the event that hunger should attack him in the night.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Ramdas Baban Karvande, president of the Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association, says the network no longer delivers across all parts of the city as it once did.
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
“Its so fun and interesting planting those seeds,” Tiffin adds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2026
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.
