A formula for preparing or using a medicine; a prescription; also, a medicine prepared from such instructions.
"The old apothecary kept a dusty recipe in his ledger that listed the exact herbs needed to cure fevers."
In plain English: A recipe is a list of ingredients and steps you follow to cook something.
"My grandmother passed down her secret chocolate chip cookie recipe to me."
Usage: In modern English, the word recipe almost exclusively refers to cooking instructions rather than medical formulas. Use this term when describing how to prepare food at home instead of the more formal terms like formula or prescription for medicines.
The word recipe comes from the Latin verb recipiō, meaning "to receive." It entered English via Middle French as an instruction to receive or take ingredients, eventually becoming the name for a set of cooking directions.