A small food or drink served before a meal to stimulate appetite; a starter (British spelling).
From 'appetite' plus the agent suffix '-iser' (British spelling of '-izer'). The word reflects the purpose: something that brings the appetite into action before the main meal.
The British spell it 'appetiser' while Americans say 'appetizer'—both are from the same root, but this spelling preserves the older pattern where verbs ending in '-ise' (British) become '-izer' nouns, showing the two languages diverged in their standardization rules.
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