tiffin
1 Americannoun
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
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.
"He is alive because I didn't give him tiffin," she said.
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
Two men allegedly stole a gold jewel-encrusted tiffin box that once belonged to an Indian princely ruler and used it to eat their lunch.
From The Guardian • Sep. 12, 2018
His tiffin box with tomato sandwiches and his Eagle flask with an eagle was on the little folding table in front of him.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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.
