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cabbage

Etymology and origin of the English word cabbage

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈkæbɪd͡ʒ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English caboche (“head of cabbage”),[2][3][4][5][6] borrowed from Old Northern French caboche (“head”),[2][3][4][5][6] from Old French caboce,[3][4] probably from Latin caput (“head”).[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A head of cabbage (1391 in Barnhart; late 14th century in Etymonline; c. 1440 in the OED).[3][4][7]

Semantic evolution

The word caboche meant “head”, and in Norman and Picard dialect “cabbage”.[4][5][6] The change of the final sound to -j parallels the common pronunciation of spinach and sandwich.[4] The comparison of a cabbage to a stupid person's head is as old as Old French cabus “cabbage; blockhead”.[4] It was a term of endearment from 1840, translating French mon chou,[7][2] and slang for money, especially paper money, from 1926.[7][2][5][6] An unrelated cabbage meant scraps of cloth kept by tailors (1663), with a verb “to pilfer”.[7][5][6]

Timeline

  • 1391 – caboche, a head of cabbage.[3]
  • c. 1440 – the vegetable (OED).[7]
  • 1541 – brought to Canada by Jacques Cartier.[4]
  • 1840 – a term of endearment.[7]
  • 1926 – slang, money.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A European vegetable, Brassica oleracea capitata, of the mustard family, with a short stem and a dense round head of overlapping green or purplish leaves.
  2. Any of several similar or related plants, such as Chinese cabbage.
  3. The edible terminal bud of certain palms.
  4. (slang) Money, especially paper money.
  5. (informal) A term of endearment; also, chiefly British, a dull or mentally impaired person.

Word family

  • cabbagehead
  • cabbage butterfly
  • cole
  • kale
  • coleslaw
  • capital
  • head

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Cabbage.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/cabbage. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·