Concoction: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Preparation of a substance from ingredients}}

[[File:An_apothecary_making_a_concoction_in_the_street_outside_his_Wellcome_V0010726.jpg|thumb|right|An [[apothecary]] making a concoction]]

'''Concoction''' is the process of preparing a medicine, food or other substance out of many ingredients, and also the result of such a process.

Historically, the word referred to [[digestion]], as conceived by [[Aristotle]] who theorized that this was the result of the heat of the body acting upon the material, causing it to mature and ripen.

The term later came to refer to liquid [[broth]]s, [[cocktail]]s and [[potion]]s which are similarly formed by heating or blending multiple ingredients. Concoctions that were made in [[apothecaries]], or as used in [[traditional medicine]], rather than nourishment or pleasure (in which case it would be [[cookery]] or [[cuisine]]). In a medical context, such concoctions have largely been superseded by [[modern medicine]].

In modern usage, the term may refer more loosely to any mixture of various ingredients, including [[soups]] and [[cocktails]], or abstract ingredients, such as [[design]] elements in [[architecture]] or [[fashion]], or an elaborate [[wikt:excuse|excuse]].  

In such uses, the term often retains a [[connotation]] that the mixture is strange, unusual, or elaborate.

[[Category:Chemical mixtures]]

[[Category:History of pharmacy]]