petit dejeuner
- noun
- /pəˈti dɪˈʒɜrnə/
:
desayuno ligero
- In France, it's common to enjoy a petit dejeuner of a croissant and coffee each morning.
Examples
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- Will you order some petit dejeuner?
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THEN I THINK I'LL HAVE A LITTLE PETIT DEJEUNER.
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I savored a delicious petit dejeuner at the charming café in the heart of Paris.
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Every Sunday, we indulge in a leisurely petit dejeuner of pastries and fresh juice.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
The first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning
7
1.6
A light morning meal of bread and pastries with coffee or tea
Antonyms
How Filling
Surface Forms
Morphology
petit + dejeuner
The phrase literally combines petit (small) + déjeuner (a meal/break-fast), so a learner who knows both parts can infer it refers to a small meal and thus get a general idea of 'a light meal' in the morning. However, because déjeuner is a French loan with shifting senses (modern French often uses déjeuner for lunch) and the precise sense 'light breakfast' and its cultural register are language-specific, the exact meaning and timing are not fully predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
Petit dejeuner comes from the French words petit ('small') and dejeuner ('to break the fast'), so it literally means a 'small breaking of the fast'. That's why it now refers to a light morning meal, a 'light breakfast'.