Recipe
/ˈrɛsɪpi/noun
A set of instructions for preparing food or medicine.
Did you know?Recipe comes from Latin *recipere* (“take”), and the same root helped create *receipt* and *reception*—words built around the idea of taking, receiving, and holding.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
recipere
“to take back, receive, accept”
Late Latin
Latin
recipe
“take! (the imperative form used at the start of medical prescriptions)”
Middle English
English
receipte
“a medical prescription or formula”
16th Century
English
recipe
“a formula or prescription, especially in medicine”
Modern English
English
recipe
“a set of instructions for preparing food or medicine”