The nautical term is attested from 1660s (in a general sense of "to tack, to beat to windward"), apparently from obsolete French busquer "to shift, filch, prowl," which is related to Italian buscare "to filch, prowl," Spanish buscar (from Old Spanish boscar), perhaps originally from bosco "wood" (see bush (n.)), with a hunting notion of "beating a wood" to flush game. For the "perform in public" sense, see busker.
1530s, "digestion" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin concoctionem (nominative concoctio) "digestion," noun of action from past participle stem of concoquere "to digest; to boil together, prepare; to consider well," from assimilated form of com "together" (see con-) + coquere "to cook, prepare food, ripen, digest," from PIE root *pekw- "to cook, ripen."
Meaning "that which is concocted" is by 1850, figurative; meaning "a devising, a planning, act of preparing and combining the materials of anything" is from 1823.
Middle English salten, "prepare with salt, preserve (something) with salt," from Old English sealtan, from Proto-Germanic *salto- (see salt (n.)), and in part from the noun. Related: Salted; salting.
c. 1200, discomfiten, "to undo in battle, defeat, overthrow," from Anglo-French descomfiter, Old French desconfire "to defeat, destroy," from des- "not" (see dis-) + confire "make, prepare, accomplish," from Latin conficere "to prepare," from com- "with" (see com-) + combining form of facere "to make, to do" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").
General sense of "defeat or overthrow the plans or purposes of" is from late 14c. Weaker sense of "disconcert" is first recorded 1520s in English, probably by confusion with discomfort. Related: Discomfited; discomfiting.
