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Where does the word "recipe" come from? It comes from Latin recipere, and was adopted directly into English (1500s).
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Where does the word "recipe" come from? It comes from Latin recipere, and was adopted directly into English (1500s).
Recipe’s story begins in Latin: recipere meant “to receive, to take.” Latin 'take!', the opening word of medical prescriptions, abbreviated Rx. It reached English by 1500s as recipe. Narrowed from a medical instruction to a set of cooking instructions. Today, recipe means a set of instructions for preparing a particular dish.
- Stage 1 · Latin · ancient recipere "to receive, to take", Latin 'take!', the opening word of medical prescriptions, abbreviated Rx.
- Stage 2 · English · 1500s recipe "a set of instructions for preparing a dish", narrowed from a medical instruction to a set of cooking instructions.