Etymologically
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decoquo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdeː.kɔ.kʷoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdɛː.ko.kʷo][1]

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

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