recipe
Definitions
A set of instructions for preparing a particular dish
食谱，烹饪法
A method or formula for achieving a certain result
诀窍，方法；（导致某结果的）配方
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedRecipe is not built from a prefix and a suffix — it IS a whole Latin word frozen into English. Recipe is the imperative of recipere ("to take"), meaning literally "Take!" Medieval doctors began their prescriptions with this command — "Take [these ingredients]..." — and the word for the instruction-list stuck. From the doctor's prescription it drifted to the cook's: a recipe is still, at heart, a list that begins "take these things and combine them."
Root cap still carries 163 more wordsWhy It Means This
Recipe is the family's most charming oddball. It is a Latin verb command — "Take!" — that walked into English whole, never adapting to look like an English noun. That is why it keeps its strange spelling and three-syllable pronunciation /ˈresɪpi/, unlike its sibling recipient, which was built the normal way. The Rx symbol pharmacists still use is an abbreviation of this same recipe.
Usage Guide
Pronounced /ˈresɪpi/ — three syllables, with the final -e fully sounded ("RES-uh-pee"), unlike most English words where final -e is silent. This is a giveaway of its frozen-Latin origin.
- Cooking (literal): follow a recipe, a recipe for soup
- Figurative: "a recipe for disaster" = a combination of conditions sure to cause trouble
Example Sentences
- 1.
She followed her grandmother's recipe for apple pie.
- 2.
Hard work and luck is his recipe for success.
- 3.
Skipping sleep is a recipe for disaster.
- 4.
The chef refused to share his secret recipe.