hodgepodge

the word 'hodgepodge' is an alteration of the earlier english term 'hotchpotch', which itself was borrowed from the middle french 'hochepot', a stew of mixed ingredients. the french term is a compound of 'hocher' (to shake) and 'pot' (pot), literally meaning a shaken pot or a mixture. entering english in the late medieval period, the word first retained its culinary meaning of a mixed stew. through semantic extension, the idea of a physical mixture evolved into the modern abstract sense of any jumbled or disorderly collection of disparate elements, reflecting a common metaphorical path from the kitchen to general description.

this word is a reduplication, a common formation in english where a word is repeated with a slight alteration in the vowel sound (like 'wishy-washy' or 'flimflam'). it is not productively built from separate, identifiable morphemes in modern english.