cole

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kəʊl/, /kɔʊl/ (UK); /koʊl/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English col, a dialect survival from late Old English cāwel, cāl,^[2][3][4] perhaps influenced by Old Norse kál,^[2][5][6] both from Latin caulis (“stem, stalk; cabbage”),^[2][3] which in Vulgar Latin replaced brassica as the usual word for cabbage.^[2] Latin caulis also gave Italian cavolo, French chou, German Kohl and Dutch kool.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Any of various plants of the cabbage genus: about 1000.^[7][3]

Semantic evolution

Pottage, a sense now obsolete, is from about 1460.^[7] Cabbage-cole is from 1620.^[7] The word survives mainly in compounds such as coleseed, colewort and coleslaw.^[5][3] Its Scottish form is kale.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – the cabbage plant.^[7]
• c. 1460 – pottage (obsolete).^[7]
• 1620 – cabbage-cole.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of various plants of the cabbage genus, Brassica, especially rape or kale.

Word family

• coleseed
• coleslaw

Related words

• borecole
• colewort
• cauliflower
• kale
• kohlrabi

Usage notes

An obsolete cole, trickery or a cheat, of unknown origin, is inferred from texts of about 1300 to the 16th century.^[2][7]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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