I attended a dinner party hosted by the president.
He proposed a toast at the dinner table.
The president shared a formal dinner with the heads of state.
The royal family invited many guests to the formal dinner.
Important matters were discussed at the formal dinner table.
会食 emphasizes the act of dining together (often for business or social purposes), while 晩餐 specifically denotes an elegant evening banquet.
宴会 highlights the festive, celebratory nature of a banquet with drinking, whereas 晩餐 focuses on the formal evening meal itself.
ディナー is a modern loanword for a formal or restaurant-style evening meal, while 晩餐 is the older, more literary Japanese term for the same idea.
晩餐 means a formal evening banquet or dinner, while 晩酌 refers specifically to having an alcoholic drink with one's regular evening meal at home.
Standard kanji form for formal dinner. The second kanji 餐 is not a jōyō kanji, so the form 晩さん is sometimes used.
Mixed kanji-kana spelling used when 餐 is not available or to aid readability.
From Middle Chinese 晩餐 (mɑnX tshon), meaning evening meal. The kanji 晩 means 'evening' and 餐 means 'meal' or 'eat'.