Postprandial

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Postprandial refers to the time after a meal.

Most medical terms have a reasonably logical derivation. Not so with "postprandial". Post- is Latin for "behind, backward, later, or afterward". Prandial comes from the Latin, too, from prandium, which means "a late breakfast or lunch". Prandium derived from the Greek pro-, 'before', + endios, 'midday'. So, "postprandial" literally means "after the time before midday". Now, however, "postprandial" refers to the time after any meal.

It is a common term in medicine and is pertinent to diabetes, endocrinology, gastroenterology, metabolism, pathology, and many other biomedical fields.