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concoct

[kon-kokt, kuhn-]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to prepare or make by combining ingredients, especially in cookery: to concoct a meal from leftovers.
  2. to devise; make up; contrive: to concoct an excuse.
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Origin of concoct

1525–35; < Latin concoctus (past participle of concoquere to cook together), equivalent to con- con- + coc-, variant stem of coquere to boil, cook1 (akin to Greek péptein; see pepsin, peptic) + -tus past participle ending
Related formscon·coct·er, con·coc·tor, nouncon·coc·tive, adjectivewell-con·coct·ed, adjective

Synonyms

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2. invent, fabricate, hatch.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

envisionfabricatecreatecontrivediscoverinventdevisehatchplotprepareframeoriginatebatchprojectbrewdesignplanmaturecompoundvamp

Examples from the Web for concoct

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I am not prepared to give you the money I have saved for any tale you choose to concoct.

  • It took him some time to concoct his telegram, and put it into cypher.

  • The reporter, armed with this information, proceeded to concoct a legend.

  • As we had plenty of meat he was able to concoct as much broth as I could consume.

    Adventures in Africa

    W.H.G. Kingston

  • I think it possible that I may concoct with it some scheme for our return.

    Hypolympia

    Edmund Gosse

British Dictionary definitions for concoct

concoct

verb (tr)
  1. to make by combining different ingredients
  2. to invent; make up; contrive
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Derived Formsconcocter or concoctor, nounconcoctive, adjective

Word Origin

C16: from Latin concoctus cooked together, from concoquere, from coquere to cook
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for 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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper