Quick Definition
δεῖπνον, ου, τό n.n. a dinner, an afternoon or evening meal
Strong's Definition
from the same as 1160; dinner, i.e. the chief meal (usually in the evening)
KJV Usage: feast, supper
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, n. | -ου | δειπνέω
23.22 · Physiological Processes and States · Eat, Drink
a meal, a banquet, a feast a meal whether simple or elaborate (this generic meaning of δεῖπνον is in contrast with the more specific meaning of δεῖπνον[b], 23.25) Though ἄριστον[a], δεῖπνον[a], and βρῶσις[b] are highly generic in this usage, it is not necessary to translate these terms by a corresponding generic term in another language, since a more specific term may fit the context more satisfactorily. In fact, a generic term might be quite inappropriate in that it would suggest in the case of MRK 6:21 that Herod was quite stingy in simply providing an ordinary meal for his officials.
23.25 · Physiological Processes and States · Eat, Drink
supper, main meal the principal meal of the day, usually in the evening Though in the so-called Western world there is a tendency to have three meals each day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner (or supper), in many parts of the world there are only two principal meals: one eaten around nine or ten o’clock in the morning, and another at four or five o’clock in the afternoon.
In some languages there is a very important distinction made between a more or less formal meal and the relatively informal times of eating which might be called ‘snacks.’ These would be occasions on which one would eat only one kind of food and possibly in relatively small quantities.
MAT 23:6 · LUK 14:12 · LUK 14:16 · LUK 14:17 · LUK 14:24 · LUK 20:46 · JHN 12:2 · JHN 13:2 · JHN 13:4 · JHN 21:20
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
δεῖπνον, -ov, τό, and acc. to a rare and late form 6 δεῖπνος in Lk. xiv. 16 Lehm. [ef. Tdf. on Rev. xix. 9, 17, also W. 65 (64); on deriv. cf. δαπάνη], (in Hom. the morning meal or breakfast, ef. Passow [more fully L. and S.]s.v.; this the Greeks afterwards call τὸ ἄριστον q. ν. {and reff. there], designating as τὸ δεῖπνον the evening meal or supper) ; 1. supper, esp. a formal meal usually held at evening: Lk. xiv. 17, 24; Jn. xiii. 2,4; xxi. 20; plur.: Mt. xxiii. 6; Mk. xii. 39; Lk. (xi. 43 Lehm. in br.) ; xx. 46; used of the Messiah’s feast, symbolizing salvation in the kingdom of heaven: Rey. xix. 9, 17; κυριακὸν δεῖπνον (see κυριακός, 1), 1 Co. xi. 20; ποιεῖν δεῖπνον, Lk. xiv. 12 (ἄριστον ἢ δεῖπνον) ; 16 (Dan. v. 1 [Theodot.]); with the addition τινί, Mk. vi. 21; Jn. xii. 2. 2. univ. food taken at evening: 1 Co. xi. 21.* 7 ΖΔεκάπολις
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
δεῖπνον deipnon 16x
pr. a meal; supper, the principal meal taken in the evening, Lk. 14:12; Jn. 13:2, 4; meton. food, 1 Cor. 11:21; a feast, banquet, Mt. 23:6; Mk. 6:21; 12:39
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
δεῖπνον, -ου, τό
[in LXX chiefly for פַּת־בַּג (Da) ;]
the chief meal of the day, dinner, supper: Mt 23:6, Mk 12:39, Lk 14:17, 24 20:46, Jo 13:2, 4 21:20, I Co 11:21; δ. ποιεῖν, Mk 6:21, Lk 14:12, 16, Jo 12:2; κυριακὸν (q.v.) δ., I Co 11:20; metaph. (Dalman, Words, 118), δ. τ. γάμου τ. ἀρνίου, Re 19:9; δ. τ. μέγα τ. Θεοῦ, Re 19:17.†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
δεῖπνον. In a lengthy account ot private expenses, P Oxy IV. 736%° ( A.D. 1), we find the entry ἀσπαράγῳ(ν) [δίπνῳ ᾿Αντί(ᾶτος) ὅτ᾽ cis τὸ περίδ[ι]πνο(ν) ᾿Αθηί ) yvadéw(s) (ἡμιωβέλιον), ““ asparagus for the dinner οἵ Antas when (he went) to the funeral feast of Athe ... the fuller 4 ob.” (Edd.): cf. 2. 7381 (c. A-p. 1) δίπνωι € Κανωπικὸν ἧπαρ, “for dinner on the 5th a Canopic liver. For δειπνητήριον = ‘‘a civic banqueting-hall ” see the inscription of the time of Vespasian (A.D. 69-79) in P Fay p. 33. Another compound, δειπνοκλήτωρ, occurs in the remarkable alternative version of the parable of Lk 147, found in D Φ αὖ after Mt 2078. Nestle, Zext. Critictsm, p. 257, remarks that Artemidorus (@f. Athenaeus) called the ἐλέατρος by this name—‘‘a manager of the table, taster” (LS). He equates it to a Syriac phrase = ‘‘ master of the feast,” and claims it as belonging to the later popular language. It may accordingly represent not the entertainer but the somezclator—the slave who acted as marshal at a dinner-party. δΔεῖπνον is not frequent in our documents, but it survives in MGr. We might add P Lond 219(a) rvectol? (ii/B.c.) (ΞΞ 11. p. 2), where in accounts concerning ~ ‘inner (περὶ δεῖπνον) the beer (ζύτον) costs 40 dr. a choi arly 6 pints), which the editor observes was a high price
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
δεῖπνον (deipnon) — dinner. δεῖπνον, τό, meal: in [Refs 8th c.BC+] sometimes noonday meal, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; sometimes ={ἄριστον}, morning meal, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; sometimes ={δόρπον}, evening meal, [Refs].; later,the midday meal, σῖτον εἰδέναι διώρισα, ἄριστα, δεῖπνα, δόρπα θ᾽ αἱρεῖσθαι τρίτα [Refs 4th c.BC+]; later, the afternoon meal, dinner or supper, σοὶ δὲ μελήσει, ὅτανᾖ δεκάπουν τὸ στοιχεῖον, λιπαρῷ χωρεῖν ἐπὶ δ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀπὸ δείπνου straight-way after the meal, ἀπὸ δ. αὐτοῦ θωρήσσοντο [Refs 8th c.BC+]; καλεῖν ἐπὶ δεῖπνον, κεκλῆσθαι ἐπὶ δ., [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of animals, etc., [Refs 8th c.BC+]
2. generally, food, provender, ἵπποισιν δεῖπνον δότε [Refs 8th c.BC+]; κοράκεσσιν epigram cited in [Refs 2nd c.AD+]