dē-cŏquo, xi, ctum, 3, v. a.
I To boil away, boil down, diminish by boiling .
A Lit.: usque quo ad tertiam partem decoxeris, Varr. R. R. 1, 2, 26; so acetum ad quartas, ad tertias, Col. 12, 34; Plin. 22, 25, 69, § 140: in dimidiam partem, Col. 12, 24, 1: aquam, id. 12, 26: pars quarta (argenti) decocta erat, had melted away, passed off into dross , Liv. 32, 2.—
B Trop.
1 With acc., to diminish, repress, consume, waste : multum inde decoquent anni, Quint. 2, 4, 7; Plin. 21, 6, 17, § 31: accensam sed qui bene decoquat iram, Claud. in Eutrop. 2, 349.—Poet., with a personal object: hic campo indulget, hunc alea decoquit, Pers. 5, 57.—
2 Absol.
a Of personal subjects, to run through the property of one's self or others; to become a bankrupt : tenesne memoria, praetextatum te decoxisse? Cic. Phil. 2, 18: qui primus hoc cognomen acceperit decoxit creditoribus suis, Plin. 33, 10, 47, § 133.—
b To waste away, become impaired, decline : res ipsa jam domino decoxit, Col. 11, 1, 28: quibus (annis) inertiā Caesarum (imperium) quasi decoxit, Flor. 1, Prooem. 8: templorum vectigalia cotidie decoquunt, Tert. adv. Gent. 42: spero non tibi decoquet ornithon, Varr. R. R. 3, 2, 16.
II To boil, cook .
A Lit.: axungiam fictili novo, Plin. 28, 9, 37, § 138: cyathum aceti in calice novo, id. 32, 7, 25, § 78: lentem in vino, id. 22, 25, 77, § 147: rapa aqua, id. 18, 13, 34, § 126: olus, * Hor. S. 2, 1, 74 et saep.—Hence,
2 Part. perf. subst .
a dēcocta , ae, f. (sc. aqua), an icy-cold decoction , invented by Nero as a drink, Suet. Ner. 48; Juv. 5, 50; cf. Plin. 31, 3, 23, § 39. With aqua, Mart. 14, 116.—
b dē-coctum , i, n., a medicinal drink, potion , Plin. 22, 20, 23, § 49; 27, 12, 84, § 108 al.—
B Transf., pass. (acc. to coquo, no. I. b.), to ripen, dry , Plin. 17, 24, 37, § 226; Pall. 1, 34, 7.—
2 To concoct, fabricate, invent : consilia nefarii facinoris, Decl. M. Posc. Latr.—
3 Trop.: suavitatem habeat orator austeram et solidam, non dulcem et decoctam, a severe and solid, not a luscious and mellow sweetness (the fig. being taken from wine), Cic. de Or. 3, 26, 104.
XVI —Hence, dēcoctĭus , adj. comp. (cf. no. II. B. 2.), riper , of composition; more carefully elaborated : aspice et haec, si forte aliquid decoctius audis, Pers. 1, 125.