_Luncheon_ (Vol. iii., p. 369.).--I cannot help doubting this
derivation; and I suspect that the true meaning of the word is, a piece,
or slice (or _vulgo_, a "hunch") of bread. When people who dined early,
and breakfasted comparatively late, wanted any intermediate refreshment,
"a luncheon" (or, as we should now say, "just a crust of bread") was
sufficient. The Query brought to my mind some verses of the younger
Beattie, which were published with his father's _Minstrel_, &c., in
which he uses the word "luncheon" for the piece of bread placed beside
the plate at dinner. I have no doubt of the fact, though I cannot
recollect the lines, or find the book. But after searching in vain for
it, I took down Johnson's _Dictionary_; and under the word I found this
couplet by Gay, which is perhaps a better authority:
"When hungry thou stood'st staring like an oaf,
I sliced the _luncheon_ from the barley loaf."