poached
UK[pəʊtʃt]US[poʊtʃt]
adj
(of an egg) cooked in or with gently boiling water without its shell.
adj
(of fish or other food) cooked by simmering in a small amount of liquid.
adj
(of an animal or bird) illegally hunted or caught on someone else's land.
Morpheme Breakdown
poach
ed
poach
to cook in liquid / to hunt illegally
ed
adjective suffix
Etymology
The modern culinary sense of 'poached' derives from the original meaning of 'poach' as 'to push or poke', which evolved into the cooking method of gently pushing an egg into simmering water. The hunting sense developed from the idea of trespassing to 'poke around' on another's land to steal game. The Old French source 'pochier' meant 'to enclose in a bag', a method for cooking, which semantically merged with the Germanic concept of poking or thrusting. Over time, the past participle 'poached' solidified as an adjective describing the result of these actions, whether it's a cooked egg or illegally taken game.
Analysis
Structure: poach (to cook in liquid / to hunt illegally) + ed (adjective suffix)
The morpheme 'poach' originates from the Middle English word 'pocchen', likely from Old French 'pochier' (to enclose in a bag, to pocket). The '-ed' suffix is from Old English '-ed', '-od', '-ad', used to form adjectives from verbs, indicating the state or result of the action.
Examples
For breakfast, she prefers a poached egg on toast.
The salmon was perfectly poached in a white wine and herb broth.
The landowner was furious about the poached deer on his property.