coquus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈkɔ.kʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔː.kʷus]^[1]

Forms

coquus m (genitive coquī, feminine coqua); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It belongs with coquō “to cook”, inherited from Proto-Italic *kwokwo- (“a cook”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pokʷos, from Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ- (“to cook”).^[2][3] De Vaan counts the noun among the oldest forms of the family, and thinks the o of coquō may come from it.^[2] Cognate with Sanskrit पचति (pácati, “cooks”), Ancient Greek πέσσω (péssō, “to cook, ripen”) and Old Church Slavonic пещи (pešti, “to bake”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Naevius first.^[4] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^[4] The cook is a familiar figure in the comedies of Plautus.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a cook, and the feminine coqua a female cook.^[1][5] The OLD notes that the spelling with ⟨qu⟩ is the earlier one, though Quintilian and others record quoquus, and many manuscripts have cocus.^[3][5]

In medieval British Latin it was used of monastic and royal cooks.^[6] A Vulgar Latin *cocus gave Old English coc, the source of English cook, and the Germanic languages generally borrowed the Latin word, as German Koch.^[7] It survives in Italian cuoco and French queux.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses the word.^[4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has cooks among his characters.^[5][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[5][4]
• Old English – coc is borrowed from Vulgar Latin.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cook.^[3][5]

Related words

• coquō
• culīna
• English cook
• English kitchen

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com