“Hodgepodge” in the English language evolved from the French word “hotchpotch” or “hochepot.” A few online references alluded to Germanic and/or Latin origins, but the clearest evidence points to old French. The Online Etymology Dictionary explains the origins of hodgepodge: “1426 (hogpoch), alteration of hotchpotch (late 14c.), from a legal term in Anglo-Fr. (attested from 1292) for collecting of property in a common pot before dividing it, from O.Fr. hochepot "stew, soup," first element from hocher "to shake," from a Gmc. source (cf. M.H.G. hotzen "shake").” Source: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=hodgepodge The abbreviations above have the following meanings: O.Fr. = old French, Gmc. = Germanic. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary also traces the origin to hotchpotch: http://www.aolsvc.merriam-webster.aol.com/dictionary/hodgepodge I think the clearest explanation comes from Word Central: “Hodgepodge and its older form hotchpotch are part of a group of words that rhyme all by themselves. Hobnob and willy-nilly are others. In the case of hodgepodge and hotchpotch, the rhyme is not an accident. These words came to English from early French in the form hochepot. The spelling was changed to make the second half of the word rhyme with the first. In French hochepot was a stew of many foods cooked together in a pot. Perhaps the pot was shaken instead of stirred since hochepot was formed from hochier, meaning "to shake," and pot, which had the same meaning in early French as it does in English now. Before long hotchpotch and hodgepodge were used not just for a mixture of foods cooking in a pot but for any mixture of different things.” http://www.wordcentral.com/cgi-bin/student?hodgepodge