Forms: see below. [a. OF. soper, super, (also mod.F.) souper, subst. use of vb. souper SUP v.2]
1. The last meal of the day; (contextually) the hour at which this is taken, supper-time; also, such a meal made the occasion of a social or festive gathering. Often without article, demonstrative, possessive, or the like, esp. when governed by a prep. (to have supper; at, to, for, after supper).
Formerly, the last of the three meals of the day (breakfast, dinner and supper); now applied to the last substantial meal of the day when dinner is taken in the middle of the day, or to a late meal following an early evening dinner. Supper is usually a less formal meal than late dinner.
α. Examples with final stressing. Forms: 3 super(e, 3–5 soper, 4–5 sopere, soupere, (4 sopeer, -iere, sopper, 5 suppere, soupier, Sc. suppa(i)r, 8 local Irish seppear).
c. 1275. Passion our Lord, 90, in O. E. Misc., 40. Þo vre louerd wes isethe to his supere [rhyme ihere].
c. 1290. Beket, 1195, in S. Eng. Leg., I. 140. A-non after soper, Wel mildeliche he bad is oste for-to comen him ner.
c. 1305. Land Cokaygne, 20. Þe met is trie, þe drink is clere, To none, russin, and sopper.
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 44. Alle was wele, tille euen after þe soupere He ȝede about, & plaied with þo þat were him nere.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Frankl. T., 461. He shewed hym er he wente to Sopeer, Forestes, Parkes, ful of wilde deer.
c. 1400. Anturs of Arth., xxvi. Dame Gaynour and alle, Went … To j e suppere [rhyme were].
1425. Ord. Whittington’s Alms-house, in Entick, London (1766), IV. 354. Both at meet and soupier.
a. 1430. Stans Puer, 55, in Babees Book, 31. At mete & at soper kepe þee stille & softe.
1463. Bury Wills (Camden), 21. He to prey for my soule at euery meel, mete or sopeer.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 223. The Coilȝear tald Mony sindrie taillis efter Suppair [rhyme bair].
1788. Vallancey, Voc. Bargle, in Trans. R. Irish Acad., II. 33. Seppear, supper.
β. Examples with initial stressing. (But early prose instances are often ambiguous.) Forms: 3–6 soper, 4–6 souper, 5–6 soupper, sopper, (3–4, 7 super, 4 sopere, 5 sopar, sowper, Sc. souppar, 6 Sc. suppare), 5– supper.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 225. Þe monekes wende to bedde & slepe, þo soper was ido.
c. 1300. Havelok, 1762. Hauelok he gladlike under-stod … And dide greyþe a super riche.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 829. Þenne seten þay at þe soper, wern serued by-lyue.
1382. Wyclif, Luke xiv. 24. Noone of tho men that ben clepid, schal taaste my souper.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prol., 799. Which of yow that bereth hym best of alle … Shal haue a soper at oure aller cost.
c. 1400. Rule St. Benet (verse), 1583. Þat euer-ilkon wil of hir laue Þe third part til hir sopper saue.
c. 1440. Generydes, 141. Anon vpon ther soper was redy.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, VIII. 1180. To souppar went, and tymysly thai slepe.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, I. xi. 50. They wente home and vnarmed them and so to euensonge and souper.
1483. Cath. Angl., 372/1. A Supper, cena.
1542. Boorde, Dyetary, viii. (1870), 249. After your supper, make a pause or you go to bedde.
1561. Winȝet, Four Scoir Thre Quest., xviii. Wks. (S.T.S.), I. 84. Quhy mak ȝe ȝour communioun afoir dennar, sen our Saluiour institutit His haly sacrament efter suppare?
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., I. i. 240. When beasts most grase, birds best pecke, and men sit downe to that nourishment which is called supper. Ibid. (1605), Macb., III. i. 25. Is’t farre you ride? Ban. As farre, my Lord, as will fill vp the time ’Twixt this, and Supper.
1606. Sir Gyles Goosecappe, I. i. Captaine Fowleweather,… whose valours within here at super with the Countes Eugenia.
1606. [see DINNER sb. 1].
1620. Venner, Via Recta, viii. 178. Our vsuall time … for supper … [is] about six.
1671. T. Hunt, Abeced. Scholast., 13. Alter dinner sit a while, after supper walk a mile.
1707. Hearne, Collect., 29 Sept. (O.H.S.), II. 54. He would not have Act Suppers any more.
1766. Goldsm., Vicar W., vi. He sat down to supper among us, and my wife was not sparing of her gooseberry-wine.
1853. Kingsley, Hypatia, xix. At last hunger sent him home to supper.
1889. F. C. Beach, in Harper’s Mag., Jan., 294/2. The photographing of evening parties, suppers, and weddings is a feature that some enthusiastic amateurs enjoy.
1905. R. Bagot, Passport, vx. 90. After a late dinner which was practically merely a supper.
b. fig. and allusively. Phr. † To go to supper with the devil, to go to hell: cf. SUP v.2 2.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 107. Þyse ilk renkez þat me renayed habbe … Schul neuer sitte in my sale my soper to fele.
1382. Wyclif, Rev. xix. 9. Blessid thei, that ben clepid to the soper of weddingis of the lomb [1611 the marriage supper of the Lambe]. Ibid., 17. Come ȝe, and be ȝe gederid to gydere to the greet soper of God.
1502. Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W.), V. vii. The dyner or the souper of paradyse.
a. 1533[?]. Frith, Antith. (1829), 307. Notwithstanding it is to be feared that they go to supper with the devil.
1556. Aurelio & Isab. (1608), Pv. The Quene & the ladies put them againe together for to geve unto Affranio a verey bitter sopper.
1592. Arden of Feversham, V. i. 188. But wherefore do you bring him hether now? You haue giuen me my supper with his sight.
1593. Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., V. v. 85. To London all in post, and as I guesse, To make a bloody Supper in the Tower.
1891. J. M. Dixon, Dict. Idiom. Eng. Phrases, To set one his supper, to perform a feat that cannot be imitated or surpassed.
c. U.S. Tea: see quots.
1859. Gosse, Lett. Alabama, 68. The meal which we are accustomed to call ‘tea,’ is by Americans, universally, I believe, called ‘supper,’ and it is the final meal; there being but three in the day.
1864. C. Geikie, Life in Woods, viii. (1874), 153. I chatted … till tea, or as they called it, supper.
2. spec. a. The Last Supper (the Supper, † his last supper, † the holy supper): the last meal taken by Jesus Christ with the apostles before his crucifixion, at which he instituted the Eucharist (see b). † Our Lord’s Supper Day, Maundy Thursday (Cena Domini).
[a 1300. Cursor M., 15281. Quen þis super was all don Iesus ras of his sette.]
13[?]. Bonaventura’s Medit., 23, heading, Now of þe soper of oure lorde Ihesu.
1340. Ayenb., 133. Hueruore he zede to his apostles þe niȝt of þe sopiere, [etc.].
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, iii. (Andreas), 362. At his laste super sine sad he … ‘ane of ȝou betrese me sall.’
c. 1421. 26 Pol. Poems, 104. Lyueliche quyk bred … Whyche in þe table of þe holy sopere, Wiþ-outen doute was ȝouen oure fay.
c. 1450. Merlin, iii. 59. The place of Iudas, ther as he satte at the soper.
c. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 125. Schere Þursday … in holy chyrch hit is called our Lordys supperday.
a. 1536. Songs, Carols, etc. (1907), 35. Most best belovid & beste be-triste, Which at his last soper did lye on his breste.
1843. Penny Cycl., XXVI. 339/2. In 1497 he [sc. Leonardo da Vinci] commenced his celebrated painting of the Last Supper, on a wall of the refectory of the Dominican convent of the Madonna delle Grazie.
1913. G. Edmundson, Ch. Rome 1st C., vi. 152. It was after the Supper on the last night of the Lord’s earthly life.
b. The Lord’s Supper, the Supper of the Lord, the Dominical Supper, the Supper: the Eucharist or Holy Communion.
(The short form, the Supper, has been favored by extreme Protestants since the 16th century. Cf. supper-sabbath in 4.)
The source of this sense is 1 Cor. xi. 20, where the term is by many taken to include the agape and the Eucharist.
1382. Wyclif, 1 Cor. xi. 20. Therfore ȝou comynge to gidere into oon, now it is not for to ete the Lordis sopere [Dominicam caenam, Κυριακὸν δεῖπιον].
1533. Tindale (title), The supper of the Lorde After the true meanyng of the Sixte of Iohn and the .xi. of the fyrst Epistle to the Corhinthians,… incidently in the exposition of the supper: is confuted the letter of master More against Iohn Fryth.
1549. Bk. Com. Prayer (heading), The Svpper of the Lorde, and the holy Communion, commonly called the Masse.
1553. Articles agreed on by Bishoppes, 1552, xxix. The Sacramente of the Lordes supper [L. Sacramentum Eucharistiæ].
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 335 b. An open disputation … concerning the Lordes supper, and the presence of Christ his body.
1560. Becon, New Catech., Wks. 1564, I. 452 b. S. Ihon Chrisostom … hath these wordes. Forasmuch as it is the dominical supper, yt is to say, the lords, it ought to be common.
1588. Art. agst. Cartwright, in Fuller, Ch. Hist., IX. vii. § 27. The Censures, and Keyes of the Church, as publick admonition, suspension from the Supper, and from execution of offices ecclesiastical.
1764. Maclaine, trans. Mosheim’s Eccl. Hist., I. iv. § 7 (1833), 36/2. Of the bread and wine presented in these offerings, such a quantity was separated from the rest as was required in the administration of the Lord’s supper.
1854. H. Miller, Sch. & Schm., xxiv. (1858), 533. The sacrament of the Supper is celebrated in most of the parish churches of the north of Scotland only once a year.
1861. W. L. Alexander, trans. Dorner’s Person of Christ, I. i. § 3. 167. We shall … not say too much if we designate the Supper the climax of the ancient Christian worship.
1878. T. L. Cuyler, Pointed Papers, 148. The Lord’s Supper is the monument of the Atonement.
1908. Expositor, May, 423. Baptism and the Supper are perpetually present in the Church.
† 3. pl. Short for supper-plates. Obs. rare.
1787. in H. Owen, Two Cent. Ceramic Art Bristol (1873), 346. 6 doz. Table Plates,… 4 doz. Soups,… 3 doz. Suppers.
4. attrib. and Comb., as supper-bell, -board, -box (BOX sb.2 9), -dish, -fruit, -hour, -light, -meal, -money, -parlour, -room, -sherry, -table, -things (THING sb.1 12 d), -tray; objective, as supper-eater, -lover; also supper-bar, a bar or counter at which suppers are served in a tavern, etc.; † supper-bed = supper-couch; † supper-couch, a couch for reclining on at meals; supper-house, an establishment that supplies suppers after the closing of the theaters; supper-party, a party assembled at supper, a social gathering of this kind; supper-quadrille, the quadrille danced just before supper; supper-room, a room in which supper is served; also = supper-house; † supper-sabbath, a Communion Sunday; supper-tavern = supper-house; † supper-while = SUPPER-TIME.
1881. Instr. Census Clerks (1885), 61. Oyster Room, *Supper Bar, Restaurant Keeper.
a. 1661. Holyday, Juvenal (1673), 215. *Supper beds,… Whose Brass-Front shew’d an Asse’s vile head Crown’d. [note p. 222 In the ancient and innocent times, saies the Poet, they did not adorn their *supper-couches with pearls and curious shells.]
1825. T. Hook, Sayings, Ser. II. Passion & Princ., v. The boys’ *supper-bell resounded in the hall.
1836–7. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Scenes, xiv. A numerous assemblage of ladies and gentlemen … had rushed from their half-emptied stout mugs in the *supper boxes.
1888. Doughty, Trav. Arabia Deserta, I. xxii. 594. A *supper-dish was set before me of mutton and temmn.
1888. J. Payn, Myst. Mirbridge, xxiii. *Supper-eaters do not live long.
1667. Milton, P. L., IV. 331. To thir *Supper Fruits they fell.
a. 1843. Southey, Comm.-pl. Bk. (1849), 557. Eight—the *supper hour [temp. Charles II.].
a. 1860. Alb. Smith, Med. Student (1861), 17. Ruddy chops and steaks are temptingly displayed in the windows of the *supper-houses.
1537. N. Country Wills (Surtees), 148. Three candelstickes for *soper lightes wrethid.
1829. Lytton, Disowned, xvi. Miserable *supper-lovers that we are.
1823. Scott, Quentin D., xx. Durward … assigned his former pretext of a headach for not joining the household of the Bishop at the *supper-meal.
1598. R. Bernard, trans. Terence, Heautontim., IV. ii. I will conuey into my fingers againe that *supper money that would so faine be gone.
1726. Leoni, trans. Alberti’s Archit., I. 103/2. Baths and *supper Parlours … shou’d be towards the West.
1822. T. Mitchell, Com. Aristoph., II. 75. The conviviality of the Athenians made the torch a very necessary appendage to their *supper-parties.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, liv. He had been at a fast supper-party given the night before.
1835. Marryat, Olla Podr. (1840), III. 131. Just before the *supper-quadrille,… a loud noise below … was heard.
a. 1661. Holyday, Juvenal (1673), 88/1. Dempster … takes agger for some eminent place in the triclinium, or *supper-room.
1794. Mrs. Radcliffe, Myst. Udolpho, xliv. They now returned to the supper-room.
1842. Lover, Handy Andy, xxi. The laughter of the supper-room, and the inviting clatter of its knives and forks were ringing in his ear.
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Supper-rooms, shell-fish shops and taverns in London, where suppers and refreshments can be had, after public amusements are terminated.
1902. Violet Jacob, Sheep-Stealers, x. The brothers … were watching a quadrille from the door of the supper-room.
1690. C. Nesse, Hist. & Myst. O. & N. Test., I. 38. Upon the *supper-sabbaths whereon we all eat the same spiritual meat.
1863. Trevelyan, Compet. Wallah (1866), 233. A four hours’ lounge in a back drawing-room, sweetened by fine *supper-sherry at twenty-eight and six.
1794. Mrs. Radcliffe, Myst. Udolpho, lvi. Round the *supper-table appeared a group of faces smiling with felicity.
1862. Miss Braddon, Lady Audley, xxxviii. In one of the principal hotels … sitting at a neatly-ordered supper-table.
a. 1860. Alb. Smith, Med. Student (1861), 41. The Toms, Charleses, and Henrys of the *supper-taverns.
c. 1825. Mrs. Sherwood, Penny Tract, 10. She was putting away the *supper-things.
1854. Mrs. Gaskell, North & S., xvi. The wardrobe shelf with handles, that served as a *supper-tray on grand occasions!
1575. Brieff Disc. Troub. Franckford (1846), 63. He had spoken … in *supperwhile, certeine wordes tendinge to the slander off them and their ministery.
1609. W. M., Man in Moone (1849), 43. All supper while … he peereth … into the platters to picke out dainty morsels.
