hotchpotch

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: hotch=potch

CIDE DICTIONARY

hotchpotch, n. [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.].

•  A mingled mass; a confused mixture; a stew of various ingredients; a hodgepodge.  [1913 Webster]

  "A mixture or hotchpotch of many tastes."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  " 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.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

hotchpotch, n. (also (esp. in sense 3) hotchpot)
1 a confused mixture, a jumble.
2 a dish of many mixed ingredients, esp. a mutton broth or stew with vegetables.
3 Law the reunion and blending of properties for the purpose of securing equal division (esp. of the property of an intestate parent).

Etymology

ME f. AF & OF hochepot f. OF hocher shake + POT(1): -potch by assim.

THESAURUS

hotchpotch

agglomeration, conglomeration, farrago, gallimaufry, hash, hodgepodge, jumble, medley, melange, mess, miscellany, mishmash, mixed bag, mixture, olio, olla podrida, omnium gatherum, patchwork, potpourri, tangle, welter