lunch-hour
Meaning
the period of time in the middle of the day when people stop work to eat lunch
the time at which this period begins
Structure
Usage
i usually go for a walk during my lunch-hour.
the company has a flexible lunch-hour policy.
her lunch-hour is from one to two o'clock.
Etymology
the compound 'lunch-hour' is a modern formation that logically combines two established english words. 'lunch', a term for the midday meal which emerged in the 16th century, is paired with 'hour', a unit of time tracing back to ancient greek 'hōra' (a season, a time period) via latin 'hora'. the greek root is from proto-indo-european yeh₁- ('year, season'), which evolved to denote fixed temporal divisions. the compound's formation follows a transparent english pattern where two nouns are combined to specify a designated time period (x-hour) for a particular activity, moving from the literal components 'meal' and 'time' to the abstract concept of a scheduled break in the workday.
Analysis
'lunch' (origin uncertain, possibly from Spanish 'lonja' or Old English 'nuncheon', meaning a light snack; functions as the core noun). 'hour' (from Old French 'hore', Latin 'hora', Greek 'hōra', meaning a period of time; functions as a noun specifying a duration).