Also 6–7 anti-. [f. ANTE- + pāst-us food, f. pāsc-ĕre to feed; cf. repast.] Something taken before a meal to whet the appetite (obs.); a foretaste.
1590. Eng. Rom. Life, in Harl. Misc. (Malh.), II. 182. The first messe, or antepast as they call it … is some fine meate to urge them to have an appetite.
1621. Donne, Serm., lxx. 713. An office is but an Antipast—it gets them an appetite to another office.
1778. H. Walpole, Last Jrnls., Dec. A very unexpected blow … an antepast of the odium they were to incur.
1855. A. de Vere, Poems, 208. Rich antepasts we have in thee of glory and eternity.
