cook [OE] The Old English coc, the early form of cook, was always male. The word was applied either to the domestic officer in charge of the preparation of food in a large household or to a tradesman who prepared and sold food. Women who prepared dinner started being called cooks in the mid 16th century. The root of the word is Latin coquus, also the source of concoct [M16th] and *biscuit. Cook has been used to mean ‘to tamper with’ since the 1630s, giving us cook the books, meaning ‘to alter records or accounts dishonestly’. The proverb too many cooks spoil the broth also dates back to the 16th century.