What does aftersupper mean?
Aftersupper is an archaic English noun denoting the period immediately following the evening meal of supper. In earlier centuries, when supper was often the main social event of the day, the hours afterward carried their own identity — a time for conversation, games, music, or quiet reflection once the food had been cleared away. Calling this stretch of evening the "aftersupper" gave it a name, much as we might speak of "after dinner" or "the evening" today. The word survives mainly in historical and literary contexts, where it lends a period flavor to descriptions of domestic life. Though no longer in ordinary use, it offers writers a precise, evocative term for a familiar moment: the settled, unhurried interval between the last course and bedtime. Its obscurity makes it a curiosity for vocabulary enthusiasts and a useful resource for authors seeking authentic early-modern English texture.
nounThe period or hour following the evening meal known as supper; an archaic term for after-supper time, when conversation or entertainment took place.
- The time or period following the evening meal (supper), especially as an occasion for leisure or conversation.
"In the long winter evenings, the family gathered for stories in the quiet aftersupper."
"The household's liveliest debates always broke out in the relaxed aftersupper."
"She reserved her reading for the stillness of the aftersupper, when the kitchen had been cleared."
Rarely pluralized even historically; the singular covers the recurring daily period.
"Many pleasant aftersuppers were spent by that fireside."
Long before we said 'after dinner,' English speakers spoke of the 'aftersupper' — the cozy stretch of evening that belonged to fireside talk rather than the table.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of aftersupper
Aftersupper is formed by the straightforward compounding of the native English particle "after" with "supper," a word borrowed from Old French "souper" (itself related to the notion of sopping bread in broth, connecting it to "soup" and "sup"). The compound arose during the early modern English period, when such meal-based time markers were common in everyday speech. Like many domestic compounds of that era, it gradually fell out of use as dining habits and vocabulary shifted toward "dinner" as the principal evening meal.
How aftersupper is actually used
This is an archaic or obsolete word, found chiefly in older English texts; it would strike modern readers as quaint or literary. When used today, it appears almost exclusively in historical fiction or deliberately old-fashioned prose.
Easily confused with aftersupper
"Afters" is a modern British informal word for the dessert course of a meal, whereas "aftersupper" is an archaic term for the time period after the evening meal.