Coquere

Coquere is a Latin verb meaning to cook or boil, in the sense of preparing food by applying heat. It is found in classical Latin and in later Latin culinary and prose alike. The term covers the act of heating ingredients to make them edible or ready to eat and can appear in both practical cooking descriptions and literary passages.

The verb is a third‑conjugation verb and is commonly introduced in dictionaries with the four principal parts: coquo, coquere, coxi, coctus. From these, the present active indicative forms are coquo, coquis, coquit, coquimus, coquitis, coquant. The perfect active is formed with coxi, coxisti, coxit, coximus, coxistis, coxerunt, and the supine is coctum. The perfect passive participle is coctus, used to form passive constructions and as an adjective meaning cooked. The gerund is coquendo, and the gerundive is coquendus, reflecting related expressions about cooking or something that must be cooked.

In usage, coquere appears in ordinary culinary descriptions and in literary Latin. It is encountered in ancient cookery texts and in narrative passages discussing the preparation of meals. The verb often appears with objects denoting food or ingredients and can be combined with adjectives or adverbs describing the method of heating, such as roasting, boiling, or stewing. Its semantic range is primarily culinary but can extend to metaphorical or broader senses involving preparation and production.

Today, coquere is chiefly of interest in the study of Latin language and literature. It provides a window into ancient cooking practices and the vocabulary of Roman cooks and writers. While rarely used in modern everyday language, it remains a standard entry in Latin dictionaries and grammars for understanding historical texts.