DECOCTION

decoction

(noun) (pharmacology) the extraction of water-soluble drug substances by boiling

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

decoction (countable and uncountable, plural decoctions)

An extraction or essence of something, obtained by boiling it down.

The process of boiling something down in this way.

Source: Wiktionary


De*coc"tion, n. Etym: [F. décoction, L. decoctio.]

1. The act or process of boiling anything in a watery fluid to extract its virtues. In decoction . . . it either purgeth at the top or settleth at the bottom. Bacon.

2. An extract got from a body by boiling it in water. If the plant be boiled in water, the strained liquor is called the decoction of the plant. Arbuthnot. In pharmacy decoction is opposed to infusion, where there is merely steeping. Latham.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

4 April 2025

GUILLOTINE

(verb) kill by cutting the head off with a guillotine; “The French guillotined many Vietnamese while they occupied the country”


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