the journey of 'squat' begins with the latin verb 'coquere', meaning 'to cook' or 'to ripen'. combined with the intensive prefix 'ex-', it formed 'excoquere', which metaphorically extended to mean 'to press out'. this evolved into vulgar latin 'excoactire', a frequentative form emphasizing repeated action, meaning 'to press down, flatten'. old french adopted it as 'esquatir', carrying the sense of crushing or pressing down. entering middle english, the word shed its prefix, becoming 'squatten', and its meaning narrowed from a general sense of pressing down to the specific physical act of crouching or sitting close to the ground, eventually encompassing the associated concepts of unauthorized occupation and a short, stocky build.

the word is a simplex form. it is derived from the old french 'esquatir', meaning 'to crush, press down, flatten', which is from the vulgar latin 'excoactire', a frequentative form of 'excoquere' ('to cook out, press out'). the ultimate origin is the latin prefix 'ex-' ('out') and 'coquere' ('to cook').