Coquinarius

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A worker or servant in an ancient Roman household responsible for cooking and kitchen-related tasks
2. A historical term referring to an individual associated with cooking duties, particularly in Roman times
3. An individual in charge of culinary activities in a domestic setting, especially within Roman society

Etymology: The Latin root "coque-" means "to cook," and "coquina" was the kitchen. From these, Latin formed the adjective "coquinarius," meaning "of the kitchen" or "pertaining to cooking." The adjective is best known from the title of the collection of Roman recipes attributed to Apicius, "De re coquinaria" ("On Culinary Matters"), which shows the Latin adjective applied to the whole subject of cookery. Using the form as a noun for a person who works in the kitchen is less securely documented. The standard reference works I can rely on do not clearly confirm it as a common classical job title for Roman cooks, so the "cooking duties in Roman times" sense should be treated with caution. Roman cooks were usually called "coqui" (singular "cocus"), which is the more securely attested term. Because the word is a Latin formation rather than an English one, it did not pass into English in the usual way, and it appears mainly in scholarly discussions of Latin texts.