Prandial

[Dr. Goodword]

• prandial •

Pronunciation: præn-di-êl • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: 1. Occurring during or otherwise related to a meal. 2. (Medicine) Related to eating.

Notes: Today's is a word that we encounter very little, yet it has been used, according to the Oxford English Dictionary as late as 2003. The OED offers several examples of the adverb, prandially, from the late 1990s. A snack may be called a prandicle, the diminutive of prandial.

In Play: Anything having to do with dining is prandial: "The prandial conversations were always acerbically witty at the Algonquin Round Table in New York in the 1920s." Some even called it the Vicious Circle. It even applies to dining in expense accounts: "When Al Dente returned from business trips, his prandial expenses were always highly suspect."

Word History: Today's Good Word was borrowed from the French version of Latin prandialis, the adjective for prandium "lunch". This word comes from a PIE compound consisting of pram- "first" + ed- "eat" + -alis, an adjective suffix. In Italian, modern day Latin, pranzo is the word for "lunch". The M in the word for "first" is a bit of a mystery, but the P and the R turn up in Russian pervyi "first" and English first. Since English is a Germanic language, we expect the [p] to [f] shift. PIE ed-, of course, became eat in English, essen in German, and edu "I eat" in Russian. English fret comes from Old English fretan "to devour", cousin of German fressen "to gorge". (The perennially mysterious Grogie with the very arcane vocabulary suggested prandicle, which led to today's obscure but useful Good Word family.)

[rrentner]

We use the words pre-prandials and post-prandials often in Catholic religious life to describe drinks before or after meals. I learned these words in the seminary back in the 1980's and everyone in our religious community (from my period of time at least!) will happily remember what they mean!

[LukeJavan8]

I am just presuming here, but were these prandials of an
alcoholic nature?

[Slava]

I've always liked the phrase "postprandial constitutional."

[Philip Hudson]

The Good Doctor outdid himself discussing this good word. I have never read such an interesting, amusing, and enlightening word discussion. Thank you and I look for many more.

[David Myer]

Thanks for re-opening this discussion, Philip.

I am surprised to hear that it's use today is regarded as obsolescent. Certainly, when I were a lad, it was common to hear people talk of a post-prandial nap. And interestingly, it was (in England) used almost exclusively for lunch - at least, that's how I remember interpreting it. And that seems consistent with the Good Doctor's analysis of its origins.