hotchpot (plural hotchpots)
Alternative form of hotchpotch
(civil law, inheritance) The blending together of property so as to achieve equal division, mainly in the case of inheritance.
Synonym: collation
Source: Wiktionary
Hotch"pot`, Hotch"potch`, n. Etym: [F. hochepot, fr. hocher to shake + pot pot; both of Dutch or German origin; cf. OD. hutspot hotchpotch, D. hotsen, hutsen, to shake. See Hustle, and Pot, and cf. Hodgepodge.]
1. A mingled mass; a confused mixture; a stew of various ingredients; a hodgepodge. A mixture or hotchpotch of many tastes. Bacon.
2. (Law)
Definition: A blending of property for equality of division, as when lands given in frank-marriage to one daughter were, after the death of the ancestor, blended with the lands descending to her and to her sisters from the same ancestor, and then divided in equal portions among all the daughters. In modern usage, a mixing together, or throwing into a common mass or stock, of the estate left by a person deceased and the amounts advanced to any particular child or children, for the purpose of a more equal division, or of equalizing the shares of all the children; the property advanced being accounted for at its value when given. Bouvier. Tomlins.
Note: This term has been applied in cases of salvage. Story. It corresponds in a measure with collation in the civil and Scotch law. See Collation. Bouvier. Tomlins.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
23 February 2025
(noun) an advantageous purchase; “she got a bargain at the auction”; “the stock was a real buy at that price”
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
