decoquo

Forms

dēcoquō (present infinitive dēcoquere, perfect active dēcoxī, supine dēcoctum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + coquō (“to cook”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces coquō to Proto-Italic *kʷekʷe/o- (“to cook”) and Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ-e/o- (“to cook”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and the TLL date it from Cato.^[4][3] Cato tells the farmer to anoint something with boiled-down olive lees.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is to reduce a liquid by boiling, boil down: Varro boils away two parts of the lees.^[2] It is also to bring to the boil, and to brew: Tacitus has a quick poison concocted from known venoms.^[2] Of solids it is to stew, and jokingly Seneca speaks of stewing the body in a hot bath.^[2] Of metal it is to melt down, and so to waste or consume: Lucan has poison that shrivels the limbs.^[2] Figuratively it is to squander, as in Martial, and without an object to waste away or to go bankrupt: Cicero taunts someone with having gone bankrupt while still a boy.^[2] English decoct comes from its past participle, from the early 15th century.^[6]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato of boiled-down olive lees.^[2][4][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of stewing and of melting down bullion.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of going bankrupt.^[2][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus of brewing a poison.^[2][5]
• early 15th century – English decoct.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To boil down, reduce by boiling; to boil; to brew.^[2][7][1][8]
2. To stew solids in liquid.^[2]
3. To melt down, smelt; to consume, cause to waste away.^[2][1]
4. To squander money or property; to ruin a person.^[2][1]
5. Without an object, to waste away; to become insolvent, go bankrupt.^[2][1]

Word family

• dēcoctiō
• dēcoctor
• dēcoctum
• dēcoctus
• dēcocta

Related words

• coquō
• concoquō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson