concoct

• IPA^(key): /kənˈkɒkt/, [kʰəŋˈkʰɒkt]

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• Rhymes: -ɒkt

From Latin concoquō (“boil, prepare, digest”) (influenced by the participle concoctus), from con- (“together”) + coquō (“cook”).

concoct (third-person singular simple present concocts, present participle concocting, simple past and past participle concocted)

1. To prepare something by mixing various ingredients, especially to prepare food for cooking.

   Synonyms: prepare, mix

   to concoct a potion

   to concoct a new dish

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IX, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 103:

     Their only regret was, that Mademoiselle Carrara would taste none of the conserves and the pastry they were so busily concocting.

   • 2007, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, The Well of Tears: Book Two of The Crowthistle Chronicles, Tor Books, →ISBN:

     Pecan shells make good fuel, and they are used by leather tanners to concoct their foul-smelling compounds, and sometimes we mix them with charcoal in hand-soap to make a really good scrubbing agent

   • 2014, Lisa Howard, Healthier Gluten-Free, MA: Fair Winds Press, →ISBN, page 171:

     The twelve include Jill (she used to be a chicken-and-potatoes girl, but now she's willing to try whatever I concoct), […]

2. (figurative) To contrive something using skill or ingenuity.

   Synonyms: contrive, plot, scheme

   to concoct a cunning plan

   • 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXVI, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 34:

     On the other hand, the finest argument ever concocted, the concentrated wisdom drawn from men and books, will fail to charm, like the hilarity of a dance, or the splendour of a gala, the young, gay girl, whose spirits are exuberant, and whose heart is untouched by care, and who, a dozen years afterwards, would, in calm cheerfulness, listen lovingly, and examine carefully, the pleaded reasons offered to her judgment.

   • 2005, Jean Ferris, Into the Wind: Part One, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 161:

     He had two beautiful daughters who fell in love with men he approved of and he wanted to give them the most lavish double wedding he could concoct.

3. (obsolete) To digest.
   • 1703, Thomas Gibson, The Anatomy of Humane Bodies Epitomized, page 297:

     For the parts of an Embryo are nourished and encreased before it hath a Stomach to concoct any thing, and yet in a perfect Fœtus none can deny that the Stomach does concoct […]

concoct (plural concocts)

1. (rare, nonstandard) A concoction.
   • 2006, Wendel Messer, The Conquest of Canada: A Novel of Discovery, Gravenhurst, O.N.: Breller Books, →ISBN, page 27:

     I don't suppose these creatures are the concoct of your mind?" La Tour said. "If they're real, then Nature there is warped, no doubt by oppressive dampness and heat."

Borrowed from Latin concoctus, perfect passive participle of Latin concoquō (compare Etymology 1).

concoct (comparative more concoct, superlative most concoct)

1. (obsolete) Digested or affected by heat.

• “concoct, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “concoct, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.