In today’s post, we’re going to learn the different names of the main meals of the day and the parts of the day (morning, afternoon, etc.) associated with each meal. You probably know that these names will be named differently in different parts of the Arab world given how diverse Arabic dialects are.

 

The three meals of the day

Before mentioning what these meals are, it is useful to learn that ‘meals’ is:

 

وَجَبَاتْ

Wajaba-at

 

in Arabic. It’s the plural form of:

 

وَجْبَه

wajb-ah

 

The first meals we’re looking at here is ‘breakfast’:

 

الفطور

Al-fatoor

 

or

 

وجبة الإفطار

Wajbat  al-iftaar

 

The origin of this word is the verb:

 

فطر

Fatara

(created) (The beginning of something)

 

And since breakfast is eaten in the morning, it’s useful to introduce that in Arabic here:

 

صَبَاحْ

Sabaah

(Morning)

 

Interestingly, the prayer time Muslims perform in the morning is called:

 

الصُّبْح

Assubh

 

Second, lunch is called:

 

غداء

Ghadaa’

 

This should not be confused with the word for ‘nutrition’, which is:

 

غذاء

Ghathaa’

 

Although it’s likely that the word for ‘lunch’ is associated with the word for nutrition since lunch can be considered a very important meal of the day, compared to dinner, for example.

 

The noon time in Arabic is:

 

الظُّهْر

Athuhr

(Noon)

 

which is exactly the name of the second prayer Muslims perform around (12-2pm).

 

The third meal we’re looking at is dinner, which is:

 

العَشَاءْ

Al- ashaa’

 

or

 

وَجْبَةُ العَشَاءْ

Wajbat Al- ashaa’

 

عَشَاء  is very similar to the name of the last prayer Muslims perform at the end of the day, which is:

 

العِشَاءْ

Al-  iashaa’

 

As is the case with morning and afternoon, العِشَاءْ- also refers to a time of the day, that is the night time, roughly from 9pm to 11.59pm.

 

Variations within the dialects

Now, it’s time to introduce how these said in different parts of the Arab world. I’m going to focus on four particular dialects: the Egyptian, the Levantine, the Libyan and the Gulf.

 

Breakfast:

1- Egyptian:

 

فِطَار

Fitaar

 

2- Levantine:

 

فْطُورْ

Ftoor

 

or

 

تِرْوِيقَه

Tirwee’a (in the Lebanese dialect particularly)

 

3- Libyan:

 

فْطُورْ

Ftoor

 

4- Gulf:

 

رْيُوقْ

Ryoog

 

 

Lunch:

There’s not much variation regarding the word ‘lunch’. It’s equally pronounced as:

 

غَدَا

Ghada

 

in the (Egyptian, Levantine and the gulf), but it’s pronounced slightly different in the Libyan dialect. it’s:

 

غْدِى

Ghde

 

Dinner:

Again, there’s not much variation here too. It’s very much the same in these three dialects (Egyptian, Levantine and the gulf( and is pronounced as:

 

عَشَا

asha

 

However, in the Libyan dialects, it’s pronounced as:

 

عْشِى

shee