The fundamental meaning of dinner is the principal or main meal of the day. Today we tend to associate dinner with evening, but historically that was not necessarily true.

For long periods of English-speaking history, dinner commonly happened in the late morning, around noon, or in the early afternoon. The main point was that dinner meant the day's main meal, not a meal that must happen at 6:30 p.m.

This survives in phrases such as Sunday dinner, where some families still mean a large meal in the afternoon. Not all Sunday dinners occur at midday, but the phrase makes sense because dinner can mean the principal meal rather than strictly an evening one.

When dinner occurred around midday, people could still eat again later. That later meal was supper.

Historically supper was commonly an evening meal, and often lighter, less formal, and simpler than dinner.

This helps explain the traditional pattern: breakfast, then dinner, then supper, instead of today's more familiar breakfast, lunch, dinner.

The dinner and supper distinction was not limited to Britain. In early American and agricultural settings, the day's substantial hot meal could be dinner in the middle of the day, with supper later. Historical American descriptions document this pattern.

As working and household schedules changed, evening dinner became increasingly common. But supper remained in active use.

Word choice can reflect region, generation, family tradition, rural or agricultural history, formality, and habit.

Historical distinctions between dinner and supper persisted particularly in some farming communities in the American Midwest and the South. But do not turn this into a simple rule like Southerners say supper and Northerners say dinner. That is far too simplistic.

You may hear supper more often in some families and communities with strong Southern, Midwestern, rural, or older family traditions, but there is no clean state line where dinner suddenly becomes supper. Modern usage overlaps extensively.

Both.

If you call the main evening meal dinner, you are correct. If you call it supper, you are also correct. If your family distinguishes between the two, that distinction can also be perfectly legitimate within your dialect or household tradition.

Language is shaped by usage.

Here are some original examples of how the words feel in everyday speech.

You coming over for supper? Likely interpretation: a casual evening meal, probably at someone's home.

Would you join us for dinner? Could mean exactly the same meal, although the wording can sound somewhat more formal.

Sunday dinner is at two. Also perfectly understandable because dinner can mean the principal meal rather than strictly an evening meal.

There is leftover pie if you want some supper. Historically plausible use of supper as a smaller late meal.

Because Dinner.recipes sounds like a filing cabinet. Supper feels a little more like somebody actually wants you at the table.

Historically, supper may have been the evening meal that followed dinner. Today, for most of us, supper and dinner have largely ended up sharing the same plate.

And that is exactly the part we are interested in: what are we eating tonight?

Whether you call it supper, dinner, tea, or whatever I can make in 30 minutes, we have got recipes for it.