Afikoman (Mishnaic Hebrew: אֲפִיקִימוֹן ʾăpîqîmôn;[1] Modern pronunciation: אֲפִיקוֹמָן ʾăpîqômān) based on Greek epikomon [ἐπὶ κῶμον] or epikomion [ἐπικώμιον], meaning "that which comes after" or "dessert"),[2] a word originally having the connotation of "refreshments eaten after the meal",[3] is now almost strictly associated with the half-piece of matzo which is broken in two during the early stages of the Passover Seder and set aside to be eaten as a dessert after the meal.

[5] Since the destruction of the Temple and the discontinuation of the Korban Pesach, Jews eat a piece of matzo now known as afikomen to finish the Passover Seder meal.

Both Talmuds agree on the halakha (stated in the Passover Haggadah under the answer given to the Wise Son) that no other food should be eaten for the rest of the night after the afikoman is consumed.

[8] Rabbi Menashe Klein, the Ungvar Rebbe, says that this custom is a re-enactment of the biblical account of Jacob stealing the blessings that were supposed to go to his brother Esau.

The first piece of matzo commemorates the Korban Pesach (Paschal lamb), whose meat was eaten at the very end of the festive Seder meal in the days that the Temple stood.

[9] Like the eating of the matzo earlier in the Seder, the afikoman is eaten while reclining to the left (in some Orthodox Jewish circles, women and girls do not lean).

After the eating of the afikoman, no other food may be eaten for the rest of the night, other than the last two cups of wine at the Seder and coffee, tea, or water.