Hŏtch'pŏt or Hŏtch'pŏtch, n.

n. [Fr. hochepot, from hocher, to shake, O. Fr. hocher, oscher, Pr. oscar, to notch, break. See HODGEPODGE.] 1. A mingled mass; a confused mixture of ingredients; a hodgepodge. A mixture or hotchpotch of many tastes is unpleasant to the taste. Bacon. 2. (Law.) A blending of property for equality of division. Thus lands given in frank-marriage to one daughter, shall, after the death of the ancestor, be blended with the lands descending to her and to her sisters from the same ancestor, and then be divided in equal portions to 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. 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. Erskine.