tiffin
noun
a light midday meal; lunch
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.
One mother told BBC Bengali how she'd given her child money for tiffin instead of packing lunch that morning.
From BBC • Jul. 26, 2025
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
On those afternoons, my own untouched tiffin would return home on the back of the tiffinwala’s bicycle.
From Washington Post • Jan. 4, 2022
As we wait for him to return, a local municipality van pulls over and people in orange uniforms unload metal tiffin containers with hot food ready for distribution.
From The Guardian • Jun. 12, 2020
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
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.
