Well, for me "dinner" is always an evening meal, usually formal! My family get quite bogged down by this, probably partly because of the many meals my greatgrandpernets generation ate (In my family these ancestors are still seen as the head of the family, such was my great grandfathers involvement in everyones lives!). Even now my mind runs along their food day, and I think i have "missed" meals I would never need or want, lol!
On waking the kids would grab a glass of milk and an apple before tending to the farm or stable yard chores as they best could help those whose jobs it was to do those things. Then, after that, maybe at 8 ish there was breakfast. never had one of these legendary breakfasts but often they ate steak! It was a big, meal, feeding hungry people who had already done some hours work and had a long day ahead! At eleven their might be a snack with a drink, now I suppose that is elevenses!. Lunch or lunchoen, still is observed when the family is together. It tends to be the main meal when we are in a family and in that case we take it at about two, sometimes, like christmas, it is later in the afternoon, occasionally earlier. If we are with DH's family, of town heritage breakfast is always eight am, lunch is always one, no deviation! Back at my house, if there are children, or visitors then tea is brought out at four, maybe 4:30. If my mother is with us for tea and we have guests it is still a formal snack. Always two types of sandwhich, perhaps another savoury, an uncut cake and a cut cake. If it is just family its more likely to me a cup of tea with a biscuit of piece of fruit. If "tea" is to be the main evening meal, ie if it is not a high day and we have children at home then it is more substantial and no early than 4:30 perhaps as late as six. There will always be aat least one warm thing for children's tummies! Dinner is between 7 and about 9, and in our family suggests a large formal or semi formal meal. Then there is supper, the last meal of the day, taken between 8 and about an hour before bed, and therefore light. Its strictly an adult only meal to be taken when there has been no dinner and is just to keep you feeling warm and satisfied and is informal.
In my grandmother's house, right up until she died last year, the makings for ALL of these options were in the house at anytime, because who knew what the day would hold? My great aunt still follows this maxim, though sadly, has less oppertunity to fill it. I oo feel the need to be able to provide any/all of these meals, though of course, I rarely ever have to!
Now, in the city we take morning coffee togther, I perhaps eat an apple, and DH goes to work, where he has snacks all day long, on Friday a formal breakfast with his colleagues and perhaps lunches through the day. I have a snacky lunch, because I don't want to eat uch, so maybe soup hopefully towards the summer this becomes salad! Occasionally there are after work thingies, which here in Italy come well stocked with things to nibble. We usually have supper which is, regretably as I feel like I have my day backwards now, our most substantial meal.
Meals and timings are the constant in the heart of my family, and have held fueding families together so whilst we neither work hard enough to justify the old menu, nor could eat it, someone will always be able to cater for it, because when you can hardly speak to a sibling or an aunt or a parent or a child, there is always the comfort of knowing the immovable tradition of our meals, lol!