I've heard that breakfast is the first meal of the day, but I have also heard it is a meal in the morning. Lunch I understand to be the meal that takes place between eleven and one. Assuming I do not eat anything until eleven, when I finally eat, is it considered breakfast because it is the first meal of the day, or is it lunch because it takes place during lunch's time slot?
Learn English – Are meals classified by time slot or sequence
meaning
Best Answer
It is a combination of time slot and sequence. The main meal of the day is dinner, which can be eaten at midday or evening, depending on circumstances.
dinner, n. 'The chief meal of the day, eaten originally, and still by the majority of people, about the middle of the day (cf. German Mittagsessen), but now, by the professional and fashionable classes, usually in the evening'
If dinner is in the evening, the midday meal becomes lunch, though traditionally it could be at anytime. The defining characteristic being that it was not the main meal.
If dinner is midday, the evening meal can be lunch, or tea if it a very light (possibly uncooked) meal. The concept with 'tea' is that the food is an accompaniment for the cup of tea.
There are regional variations though. Australians seem to see tea as quite a heavy meal in the evening, and I have been told that Jamaicans refer l the first meal of day as tea.