cookbook
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
'Cookbook' and 'recipe book' are very close in meaning, but a cookbook usually covers a wide range of recipes along with basic cooking techniques, while a recipe book can be smaller or focus on a single type of dish. 'Cookery book' is the standard term in British English and means the same as 'cookbook'. 'Guide' is much broader — it can refer to any instructional book, not just about food, and often emphasises how to learn a skill rather than just follow recipes. 'Manual' is more technical and typically comes with a product or piece of equipment; a manual tells you how to use or fix something, not how to cook. For example: 'I borrowed a Thai cookbook from the library' is the most natural way to say it. 'This guide to knife skills is perfect for beginners' uses 'guide' to focus on technique. 'The bread machine manual includes a few basic recipes' uses 'manual' for an appliance booklet.
Common collocations
Nouns
- cookbook author
- cookbook publisher
- cookbook collection
Phrases
- follow a cookbook
- write a cookbook
- publish a cookbook
- buy a cookbook
Prepositions
- in a cookbook
- from a cookbook
Etymology
'Cookbook' is a compound of 'cook' (from Old English 'cōc', which came from Latin 'coquus' meaning a person who prepares food) and 'book' (from Old English 'bōc'). The word has been used since the 1800s to mean a collection of recipes. In the mid-1900s, technology and business writers began using 'cookbook' as an adjective to describe any standard, step-by-step method — borrowing the idea of following a recipe.