artichoke

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɑː.tɪˌtʃəʊk/ (UK); /ˈɑɹ.tɪˌtʃoʊk/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian articiocco, a northern Italian variant of arcicioffo,^[2][3][4] from Old Spanish alcarchofa,^[5][2][3] from Arabic al-ḵuršūf “the artichoke”.^[4][5][2][3] English forms such as archecokk and hartichoake show folk etymology, and the ending has been influenced by choke.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first named the thistle-like plant and its edible flower head.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed with the plant,^[5] though the name was extended in 1620 to the unrelated Jerusalem artichoke, a sunflower with edible tubers.^[6][5][4]

Timeline

• 1530s – first recorded;^[2] Merriam-Webster dates it 1530^[4] and the OED 1531.^[6]
• c. 1600 – figurative use.^[6]
• 1620 – Jerusalem artichoke.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A Mediterranean thistle-like plant (Cynara scolymus).
2. Its immature flower head, cooked and eaten as a vegetable.
3. The Jerusalem artichoke.

Word family

• sunchoke

Related words

• cardoon
• choke

References

1. [1] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. [1] [2] [3] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. [1] [2] [3] [4] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press