cook English · revision 4045

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 700|origins=la coquus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kʊk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|coke]],^(Barnhart 1988) [[inh|ang|cōc]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) about 700, [[bor|la-vul|*cocus|t=cook]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la|coquus]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) a variant of which is cocus,^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|coquere|t=to cook, prepare food, ripen, digest]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*pekʷ-|alt=*pekw-|t=to cook, ripen]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) The Germanic languages had no single native word for all kinds of cooking, and they took over the Latin one: Old Saxon kok, Old High German choh, German Koch, Dutch kok and Swedish kock.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Cognates of the Latin verb include Greek péssein “to cook”, Sanskrit pácati “he cooks”, Old Bulgarian pekǫ “I cook” and Welsh pobi “to bake”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The verb, before 1387, is from the noun;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Old English had a verb ġecocnian, but the Middle English one seems to be a fresh formation.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A man responsible for preparing food: Old English cōc, about 700,^(Barnhart 1988) either the officer in charge of the kitchen of a large household or a tradesman who prepared and sold food; the word was always used of men.^(Cresswell 2021)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Women who cooked began to be called cooks in the mid-16th century,^(Cresswell 2021) 1535 in the OED, especially a woman employed to cook in a private family.^(OED 1989) The verb, “to act as cook”, is from about 1380,^(OED 1989) and “to make fit for eating by heat” from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) The figurative “to manipulate, falsify” is from the 1630s,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) and ''to cook the books'' is attested by 1954.^(Etymonline) ''What's cooking?'', “what's going on?”, is by 1942,^(Etymonline) and ''to cook with gas'', “to do well”, is 1930s jive talk,^(Etymonline) spread around 1939 by radio programmes.^(Etymonline) Of musicians, “to play with excitement”, it is from 1943, originally American slang.^(OED 1989) The proverb that too many cooks spoil the broth dates from the 16th century.^(Cresswell 2021)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 700 – a cook.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1380 – verb, to act as cook.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1535 – of a woman cook.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1630s – to falsify.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1942 – ''what's cooking?''^(Etymonline)

+ * 1943 – to play music with excitement.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1954 – ''cook the books''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who prepares food for eating, especially as a job.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To prepare food for eating by applying [[heat]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Of food, to be heated so as to become ready to eat.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To alter or [[falsify]] so as to give a better impression: ''cooked the accounts''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' To happen or develop: ''what's cooking?''^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(slang)'' To perform very well, as of musicians.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cookable]]

+ * [[cookless]]

+ * [[cookbook]]

+ * [[cookery]]

+ * [[cookware]]

+ * [[cook-off]]

+ * [[cookhouse]]

+ * [[cookie]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[kitchen]]

+ * [[concoct]]

+ * [[biscuit]]

+ * [[precocious]]

+ * [[cuisine]]

+ * [[culinary]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two dialect verbs of the same spelling have other origins: Scottish and Cumberland cook “to crouch down, hide; appear and disappear by fits and starts”,^(Wright 1898) and Midland cook “to throw, toss, chuck”.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}