Supper is the evening meal - ordinarily the last meal of the day.
In the United Kingdom, supper is a small meal just before bedtime, often preceded by high tea; what a Canadian or American would refer to as supper, then, would be called dinner. However, "dinner" can be used to refer to lunch in Britain and parts of the United States and Canada .
In English-speaking countries such as Britain, Canada, and the United States, the evening meal is usually served in the early evening, sometime between five and nine p.m. However, supper customs vary in European cultures. In Spain , supper can be as late as ten or eleven p.m.
In Britain and Ireland, the understanding of "supper" is typically a meal taken in the evening (between 6pm and midnight) when one's main meal or "dinner" has been eaten during the day; in place of "dinner", when the main meal of the day is usually taken in the evening, or distinct from "dinner" in that it is another light meal taken several hours later on the same evening. "Supper" is typically a lighter meal, often served cold and unlikely to involve either elaborate preparation or more than one or two courses.
The term "supper" is derived from the French souper, which is still used for this meal in Canadian French and sometimes in Belgian French. It is related to soup, a food often served at supper.
Continental French for "supper" is dîner; in Catalan it is sopar; in Spanish and Italian it is cena, and in Esperanto it is vespermango.
In Scots and Scottish English, a fish supper is a portion of fish and chips.
In Australian English, supper may refer to a late light dessert had some time after dinner.
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