decoction

[ dih-kok-shuhn ]

See synonyms for decoction on Thesaurus.com

noun

the act of decocting.
Pharmacology.
- an extract obtained by decocting.
- water in which a crude vegetable drug has been boiled and which therefore contains the constituents or principles of the substance soluble in boiling water.

Origin of decoction

1350–1400; Middle English decoccioun<Old French decoction<Late Latin dēcoctiōn- (stem of dēcoctiō) a boiling down, equivalent to dēcoct(us), past participle of dēcoquere (dē-de- + coc-, for coquere to cook¹ + -tus past participle suffix) + -iōn--ion

Other words from decoction

de·coc·tive, adjective

Words Nearby decoction

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use decoction in a sentence

He chewed the gum to make his breath sweet and drank a decoction of the root to make him live forever.
The Treatment of Hay Fever | George Frederick Laidlaw
From the infusion made with boiling water, or from the decoction.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I | Arnold Cooley
From the infusion or decoction of the root of white bryony (Bryonia dioica).
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I | Arnold Cooley
By evaporating the decoction, or the infusion made with hot water.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I | Arnold Cooley
From the decoction of the fresh root of couch grass, evaporated to the consistence of new honey.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I | Arnold Cooley

British Dictionary definitions for decoction

decoction

/ (dɪˈkɒkʃən) /

noun

pharmacol the extraction of the water-soluble substances of a drug or medicinal plants by boiling
the essence or liquor resulting from this

Origin of decoction

C14: from Old French, from Late Latin dēcoctiō, from dēcoquere to boil down, 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

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