late 14c., "act of receiving;" also "statement of ingredients in a potion or medicine;" from Anglo-French or Old North French receite "receipt, recipe, prescription" (c.1300), altered (by influence of receit "he receives," from Vulgar Latin *recipit) from Old French recete, from Latin recepta "received," fem. past participle of recipere (see receive). Meaning "written acknowledgment of money or goods received" is from c.1600.