There also was a contemporary nuncheon “mild mid-day meal,” from noon + Middle English schench “drink.” Outdated English had nonmete “afternoon meal,” literally “noon-meat” (Center English non-mete). The verb that means “to take to lunch” (said to be from the noun) also is attested from 1786:
As late as 1817 the one definition of lunch (n.) in Webster’s is “a large piece of food,” however this is now obsolete or 筑後 provincial. OED says in 1820s the phrase “was regarded either as a vulgarism or as a fashionable affectation.” Associated: Lunched; lunching.
Lunch cash is attested from 1868. Lunch-time is from 1821; lunch hour is from 1840; lunch-break is from 1960.