preprandial
adjective

- done or taken before dinner or lunch

- of, relating to, or suitable for the time just before dinner

Oxford Languages, Merriam-Webster

—
WORD ORIGIN

Preprandial is first recorded in English in the early 19th century, with an 1822 example in a letter from the essayist Charles Lamb to Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It is formed from the prefix pre- “before” and Latin prandium, meaning “luncheon, a meal,” plus the adjectival suffix -al.

Latin prandium itself goes back to an older formation built on a root meaning “early” combined with edere “to eat,” giving the idea of an early meal, typically a light midday lunch.

English later built a small family around it: prandial “pertaining to a meal,” and postprandial “after a meal,” both usually used with a slightly humorous, lightly affected tone.
​
—
BEFORE DINNER GETS COMPLICATED

You’re reading a drinks column and come across this line: “Perfect for preprandial conversation.” You know exactly what it means. It just means “before dinner.” So why does English even bother with a word like preprandial? And why would anyone choose it?

The answer says something important about how English handles status and formality. In German, formality is built into grammar: “Sie” or “Du”. Clear, explicit, and rule-based. English does it differently. We signal tone, distance, and education through word choice. Not with a switch, but with a sliding scale.

Part of this comes from history. After 1066, English absorbed thousands of French and Latin words alongside its older Anglo-Saxon ones. The result is that we often have two words for the same thing: one plain, one polished. You can “ask” or “inquire”. You can “buy” or “purchase”. You can say “before eating” or “preprandial”. Same meaning, very different feel.

That difference isn’t about intelligence so much as context. “Preprandial” quietly signals education, formality, and comfort with a more elevated register. In a wine column or on a cocktail menu, it feels natural. Kevin Carlow’s line about a drink being “perfect for preprandial conversation” works because it appears in writing, in a cultured setting, and about something already associated with refinement.

But imagine saying it out loud at a backyard barbecue: “Shall we have some preprandial drinks?” You can almost hear the pause. Not because it’s wrong, but because it feels oddly formal in such a casual setting.

Here’s the practical takeaway. In writing, especially professional or editorial writing, Latinate words often sound appropriate and even elegant. “Preprandial cocktails” reads as stylish, not stiff. In speech, it works best where people already expect elevated language: tastings, formal events, diplomatic or academic settings. In everyday talk, “before dinner drinks” usually lands better.

This is not a reason to avoid “preprandial”. Quite the opposite. It’s a useful, precise word. Just remember that English speakers are playing a subtle social game. Interestingly, the most educated speakers often choose simpler words on purpose—not because they lack vocabulary, but because they don’t want to sound pretentious.

So don’t shy away from preprandial. Think of it like a well-cut suit: perfect for a dinner party, unnecessary for a picnic.

Helga & Paul Smith

—
SYNONYMS

ahead of the meal, an aperitif hour, anteprandial, antecedent to eating, aperitif-time, as an aperitif, before dinner is served, before eating (meal, the first course, tucking in, we break bread, we dig in, you sit down to eat), before-dinner, cocktail hour, empty-stomach, hunger-building, in advance of dinner, in the run-up to dinner (to lunch), liquid appetizer, over an aperitif, pre-dinner (drinks), pre-lunch (-meal, -supper), PREPRANDIAL, preliminary to a meal, prior to dining, sharpener, whetting the appetite, wetting one’s whistle

—
SMUGGLE
 OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“For dinner we’re expecting several business guests with their partners. Do arrive around 18:30 for PREPRANDIAL drinks.”

—
P L E A S E   S U P P O R T   O W A D

On evenings and weekends, I research and write your daily OWAD newsletter together with Helga—my lovely wife and coaching partner—and our eagle-eyed daughter, Jennifer.

It remains FREE, AD-FREE, and ALIVE thanks to voluntary donations from appreciative readers.

If you aren’t already, please consider supporting us — even a small donation, equivalent to just 1-cup-of-coffee a month, would help us in covering expenses for mailing, site-hosting, maintenance, and service.

Just head over to DonorBox:
Please help keep OWAD alive

or

Bank transfer to:
Paul Smith
IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40

Important: please state as ’Verwendungszweck’: “OWAD donation” and the email address used to subscribe to OWAD.

Thanks so much,

Paul, Helga, & Jenny Smith

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Feedback, questions, new word suggestions to: paul@smith.de

- OWAD homepage, word archive, FAQs, publications, events, and more: www.owad.de