Decoction
/dɪˈkɒk.ʃən/noun
A liquid or preparation made by boiling a substance, especially herbal material, in water.
Did you know?In medieval and Renaissance medicine, decoctions were a core alchemical-style extraction method, used to draw out a plant’s “essence” by sustained boiling.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*peh₂-
“to cook, boil, or bake”
Latin
Latin
coquere
“to cook, boil, or ripen”
Latin
Latin
decoquere
“to boil down; to digest; to waste away”
Late Latin
Latin
decoctio
“a boiling down; a preparation made by boiling”
Old French
Old French
decoction
“a medicinal preparation made by boiling”
Middle English
English
decoction
“a liquid prepared by boiling a substance in water”