concoct
pronunciation
How to pronounce concoct in British English:
UK [kənˈkɒkt]
How to pronounce concoct in American English:
US [kənˈkɑkt]
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- Verb:
- make a concoction (of) by mixing
- prepare or cook by mixing ingredients
- of charges
- devise or invent
Word Origin
- concoct
- concoct: [16] To concoct an excuse is the same, etymologically, as to ‘cook’ one up. The word concoct comes from the past participle of Latin concoquere, a compound verb formed from the prefix com- ‘together’ and coquere ‘cook’. This was a derivative of the noun coquus ‘cook’, which was the source of English cook. The Latin verb developed several figurative senses, including ‘digest food’ and ‘reflect on something in the mind’, but ‘fabricate’ seems to be an English creation (first recorded in the late 18th century), developed from an earlier ‘make by mixing ingredients’.=> cook
- concoct (v.)
- 1530s, "to digest," from Latin concoctus, past participle of concoquere "to digest; to boil together, prepare; to consider well," from com- "together" (see com-) + coquere "to cook" (see cook (n.)). Meaning "to prepare an edible thing" is from 1670s. First expanded metaphorically beyond cooking 1792. Related: Concocted; concocting.
Example
- 1. Businesses target such weaknesses , using food technology to concoct confections of fat , salt and sugar .
- 2. Most successful societies construct their narratives backward : theorists concoct explanations for the achieved successes of these societies .
- 3. They tend to repeat questions before answering them , perhaps to give themselves time to concoct an answer .
- 4. After the first world trade center bombing , whitehurst testified that supervisors pressured him to concoct misleading scientific reports .
- 5. They helped concoct the marshall plan and the iraq war .