Digestif
Etymology
French for "digestive," from Latin "digerere" (to separate, dissolve, digest). The drink is so named for its supposed power to settle a heavy meal, a folk belief older than any pharmacology.
noun · /dee-zhes-TEEF/
A strong alcoholic drink taken after a meal to aid digestion.
What it names
The exact term for that small after-dinner amaro, brandy, or grappa — the bookend to a pre-dinner drink.
Example
He waved away dessert but accepted a digestif.
Related idea
A digestif closes the meal; an apéritif opens it — a lighter, often bitter drink meant to whet the appetite instead of settling it.