aperitif

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Aperitif' is a specific word for an alcoholic drink connected with the start of a meal. 'Pre-dinner drink' is the plain everyday phrase and can cover almost any drink served before eating. 'Cocktail' tells you more about the kind of drink, usually a mixed one, but not necessarily its place in the meal; some cocktails work as aperitifs, while others do not. 'Digestif' is different in timing because it comes after the meal, often as a slower final drink. So at a hotel bar you might order a cocktail as your aperitif, but after dessert the waiter may offer a digestif instead.

Common collocations

Etymology

English borrowed this word from French 'apéritif', which goes back to the Latin verb 'aperire', meaning 'to open'. The idea is that the drink 'opens' the appetite before a meal, so the word kept a food-and-drink meaning when it entered English.