Precook

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To partially prepare food through initial cooking before the final preparation stage is complete
2. To cook food slightly ahead of time so it requires less cooking later
3. To begin the cooking process on food in advance to speed up later preparation

Etymology: "Precook" is about as transparent as English compounds get: the prefix "pre-", meaning "before", attached to "cook." The verb means to cook something partly or fully in advance, so that it can be finished later. Its "pre-" traces back to Latin "prae," which meant "before" or "in front of," and reached English through Middle English. The verb "cook" has a longer and more winding path. It descends from Latin "coquere," meaning "to cook" or "to ripen," which was itself built on the same root that gave us words for baking and heat. English borrowed the idea through Old English "cōc," an early borrowing of the Latin noun for cook, which was in turn shaped by "coquus," the Latin word for a cook. So the word "cook" is one of the oldest kitchen terms English has, well before anyone thought of cooking ahead.

Synonyms: preparation, prepare, cook ahead, par-cook